Giannitsa ( Greek : Γιαννιτσά [ʝaniˈt͡sa] , in English also Yannitsa , Yenitsa ) is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality , in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece .
86-402: The municipal unit Giannitsa has an area of 208.105 km. Its population is 32,410 people (2021 census). It includes a few outlying villages (Mesiano, Melissi, Pentaplatanos, Archontiko, Ampelies and Damiano ). The municipality Pella as a whole includes many villages and has 57,039 inhabitants. The city is located in the center of Macedonia between Mount Paiko and the plain of Giannitsa, and
172-700: A nose on an Albanian up there!' Not a pretty sight for a British officer." Eventually Durham visited a northern Albanian outpost in Kosovo where she met captured Ottoman soldiers whose upper lips and noses had been cut off. After the First Balkan War of 1912, the Conference of Ambassadors in London allowed the creation of the state of Albania and handed Kosovo to the Kingdom of Serbia , even though
258-542: A 1348 chrysobull of Stefan Dušan that lists those who pray at the monastery of St. Michael and Gabriel in Prizren as well as some of the inhabitants of the city itself and the surrounding villages. In one of Stefan Dušan's documents in 1355, a soldier with Albanian anthroponomy is exclusively mentioned as one of the people who must continuously pay the Monastery of St. Nicholas in the village of Billushë near Prizren. In
344-480: A dominant feature in the town. The name of the city has been linked with that of Petrizen, a Dardani fort mentioned by Procopius in the 6th century. Hamp has suggested that the name of the city roughly meant " ford-horned animal " with the IE root *ḱrn "horn, horned-thing" (cf. Oxford ). According to Curtis, Prizren follows Albanian phonetic sound rules. Prizren has been traditionally identified with Theranda,
430-441: A lack of structural capacity to grow. Education is poor, financial institutions basic, and regulatory institutions lack experience. Securing capital investment from foreign entities cannot emerge in such an environment. Due to financial hardships, several companies and factories have closed and others are reducing personnel. This general economic downturn contributes directly to the growing rate of unemployment and poverty , making
516-564: A major Albanian cultural centre and the coordination political and cultural capital of the Kosovar Albanians. In 1871, a long Serbian seminary was opened in Prizren, discussing the possible joining of the old Serbia's territories with the Principality of Serbia . It was an important part of Kosovo Vilayet between 1877 and 1912. During the late 19th century, the city became a focal point for Albanian nationalism and in 1878, it
602-492: A number of leading Yugoslav Communists had allegedly had contacts with the accused. The nine accused were all convicted and sentenced to long prison sentences, but were released and declared innocent in 1968 with Kosovo's assembly declaring that the trial had been "staged and mendacious." The town of Prizren did not suffer much during the Kosovo War but its surrounding municipality was badly affected during 1998–1999. Before
688-495: A revenge for the crimes committed during the war from the Serbian army and all remaining Serb population was evicted from Prizren. Simultaneously Islamic cultural heritage and mosques were destroyed and damaged. The municipality of Prizren is still the most culturally and ethnically heterogeneous city of Kosovo, retaining communities of Bosniaks , Turks , and Romani in addition to the majority Kosovo Albanian population. Only
774-485: A small number of Kosovo Serbs remain in Prizren and its surrounds; residing mainly in small villages. Prizren's Turkish community is socially prominent and influential, and the Turkish language is widely spoken even by non-ethnic Turks. Prizren is located on the foothills of the Šar Mountains ( Albanian : Malet e Sharrit ) in southern Kosovo on the banks of Prizren River . Prizren Municipality borders Albania to
860-620: A town dating from the Roman Empire . However, recent research suggests that Therand may have been located at present-day Suva Reka . Archaeological research has shown that the site of the Prizren Fortress has had several eras of habitation since prehistoric times. In its lower part, material from the upper part of the fort has been deposited over the centuries. It dates from the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 BCE) to
946-497: A walk. Giannitsa was one of the first cities that founded Open Theatre (3000 seats) and became an institution for cultural events and big names in theater and music, every year, the last month of summer giving a culture festival character . Also various theatrical and musical events take place in a closed theater located internally of the Cultural Centre which has a modern architecture. In the first days of September there
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#17327836176261032-477: Is twinned with: Turkey and Hungary have also a general consulate in Prizren. For a long time the economy of Kosovo was based on the retail industry fueled by remittance income coming from a large number of immigrant communities in Western Europe . Private enterprise, mostly small business, is slowly emerging. Private businesses, like elsewhere in Kosovo, predominantly face difficulties because of
1118-645: Is August with an average temperature of 22.2 °C (72.0 °F), while the coldest month is January with an average temperature of 0.0 °C (32.0 °F). Prizren is a municipality governed by a mayor–council system . The mayor of Prizren with the members of the Prizren Municipal Council are responsible for the administration of Prizren Municipality. The municipality is encompassed in Prizren District and consists of 76 adjacent settlements with Prizren as its seat. Prizren
1204-519: Is a big market for about a week. The DI. K. E. P. A. P. (ΔΗ. Κ. Ε. Π. Α. Π) is a charitable non-profit cultural organization founded in 1996 that develops music, visual arts, dance, film and other arts. Seven kilometers (4.3 miles) south of the center is the Loudias River , which has a sailing center. The Nautical Club of Giannitsa (NOG) teaches canoeing, kayaking, and rowing. The most popular team
1290-689: Is a small village outside the town of Giannitsa , in Greece's Pella regional unit . The village, of only about 4 hundred people, is famous for the agricultural regions around it, and its church of Ayios Dimitrios. The village is the birthplace of Elisavet Mystakidou , who won a silver medal in tae kwon do at the Athens 2004 Olympics . 40°50′N 22°27′E / 40.833°N 22.450°E / 40.833; 22.450 Prizren Prizren ( Albanian definite form : Prizreni , pronounced [pɾizˈɾɛni] ; Serbian Cyrillic : Призрен )
1376-505: Is also a public university in Prizren, offering lectures in Albanian, Bosnian, and Turkish. The primary health care system includes 14 municipal family health centres and 26 health houses. The primary health sector has 475 employees, including doctors, nurses and support staff, 264 female and 211 male. Regional hospital in Prizren offers services to approximately 250,000 residents. The hospital employs 778 workers, including 155 doctors, and
1462-531: Is among the most densely populated municipalities of Kosovo. In terms of ethnicity, Prizren Municipality was 81.96% Albanian , 9.5% Bosniak , 5.11% Turkish , 1.63% Romani , 0.76% Ashkali , 0.37% Gorani , 0.13% Serbian , 0.09% Egyptian and 0.45% of other ethnicities or refugees (such as Afghans , Syrians , Ukrainians and others). By religion, there were 170,640 (95.98%) Muslims , 5,999 (3.37%) Roman Catholics , 250 (0.14%) Orthodox , 807 (0.45%) of other religions and 85 (0.05%) irreligious . Besides
1548-568: Is equipped with emergency and intensive care units. As of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) estimate from the 2011 census, there were 177,781 people residing in Prizren Municipality, representing the second most populous city and municipality of Kosovo. Its urban population was approximately 94,500, while the rural population was around 83,000. With a population density of 283,5 people per square kilometre, Prizren
1634-407: Is expected to further strain the local economy. Market saturation, high unemployment, and a reduction of financial remittances from abroad are negative economic indicators. There are three agricultural co-operatives in three villages. Most livestock breeding and agricultural production are private, informal, and small-scale. There are nine operational banks with branches in Prizren, ProCredit Bank ,
1720-712: Is part of a series of forts that were built or reconstructed in the same period by Justinian along the White Drin in northern Albania and western Kosovo in the routes that linked the coastal areas with the Kosovo valley . At this time, the Prizren fortress likely appears in historical record as Petrizen in the 6th century CE in the work of Procopius as one of the fortifications which Justinian commissioned to be reconstructed in Dardania . Konstantin Jireček concluded, from
1806-608: Is the Anagennisi Giannitsa football team which plays at the Municipal Stadium. There is a motocross track northwest of the city, in the foothills of Mount Paiko, where local, Greek, and European races are run. At the river Loudias, there are rowing races in which the Nautical Club participates. Giannitsa is twinned with three cities: Damiano, Pella Damiano ( Greek : Δαμιανό )
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#17327836176261892-639: Is the economic, commercial and industrial center of the Pella regional unit . European route E86 ( Greek National Road 2 ) runs along the south of the city. The former shallow, swampy, and variable-sized Giannitsa Lake or (ancient) Loudias Lake, fed by the Loudias River and south of the city, was drained in 1928-1932 by the New York Foundation Company. It or the surrounding marshland were sometimes called Borboros 'slime' or Borboros Limen . About 7 km (4 mi) from Giannitsa are
1978-540: Is the last Byzantine archbishop of Ohrid to include Prizren in his jurisdiction until 1219. Stefan Nemanja had seized the surrounding area along the White Drin between the 1180s and 1190s, but this may refer to the areas Prizren diocese rather than the fort and the settlement itself and he may have lost control of them later. The ecclesiastical split of Prizren from the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1219
2064-644: Is the second most populous city and municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and district . It is located on the banks of the Prizren River between the foothills of the Sharr Mountains in southern Kosovo. Prizren experiences a continental climate with some mediterranean influences. Prizren is constitutionally designated as the historical capital of the country. Archaeological excavations in Prizren Fortress indicate that its fortress area has seen habitation and use since
2150-464: Is the spring of Aravissos , which produces drinking water. The surrounding grove and creek include a popular park. Giannitsa is predominantly a rural area. The draining of the Lake Giannitsà left fertile soil for agriculture, leading to population growth in the region. The focus of the social life of the city is at the central pedestrian street, where people gather to eat and drink or to take
2236-529: The Bronze Age . Prizren has been traditionally identified with the settlement of Theranda in Roman Dardania , although other locations have been suggested in recent research. In late antiquity it was part of the defensive fortification system in western Dardania and the fort was reconstructed in the era of eastern Roman Emperor Justinian . Byzantine rule in the region ended definitively in 1219-20 as
2322-523: The Church of Holy Salvation , Church of St. George (the city's largest church), Church of St. George (Runjevac), Church of St. Kyriaki, Church of St. Nicolas (Tutić Church), the Monastery of The Holy Archangels , as well as Prizren's Orthodox seminary of Saint Cyrillus and Methodius. Also, during that riot, the entire Serb quarter of Prizren, near the Prizren Fortress , was completely destroyed, as
2408-825: The Ottoman period, and several important monuments survive, such as the Tombs of Gazi Evrenos (built in 1417) and Gazi Ahmed Bey , the Kaifoun Baths, the Great Mosque , the Army Mosque , the hammam of Evrenos , and the Clock Tower , built from 1667 to 1668 by the Ottomans. (The choice of location was made with military criteria because they wanted to control the commercial activity that took place across
2494-699: The People's Republic of Serbia , a constituent state of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia . The Province was renamed to Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in 1974, remaining part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia , but having attributions similar to a Socialist Republic within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . The former status was restored in 1989, and officially in 1990. For many years after
2580-727: The Raiffeisen Bank , the NLB Bank , TEB Bank , Banka për Biznes (Bank for Business), İşbank , Banka Kombëtare Tregtare (National Trade Bank), Iutecredit, and the Payment and Banking Authority of Kosovo (BPK). All the main roads connecting the major villages with the urban centre are asphalted. The water supply is functional in Prizren town and in approximately 30 villages. There are 48 primary schools with 28,205 pupils and 1,599 teachers; 6 secondary schools with 9,608 students and 503 teachers; kindergartens are privately run. There
2666-552: The Austrian-Ottoman wars, the local Albanian population in the Prizren region rallied to support the Austrians against the Ottomans under the leadership of the Albanian priest Pjeter Bogdani . Documents and dispatches refer to the Austrians marching to "Prizren, the capital of Albania " where they were welcomed by Bogdani and 5,000-6,000 Albanian soldiers. The Albanian Catholic priest Toma Raspasani wrote that, once
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2752-493: The Austrians had been expelled and Prizren was firmly in the hands of the Ottomans yet again, nobody was able to leave Prizren. In 1693, Toma also wrote that many of the Catholics in Kosovo had gone to Hungary where most of them died of hunger or disease. Prizren was the cultural and intellectual centre of Ottoman Kosovo. It was dominated by its Muslim population, who composed over 70% of its population in 1857. The city became
2838-630: The Crusaders to fight the Ottomans. On 21 June 1455, Prizren surrendered to the Ottoman army. Prizren was the capital of the Sanjak of Prizren , and under new administrative organization of Ottoman Empire it became capital of the Vilayet . Later, it became part of the larger Rumelia Eyalet . It was a prosperous trade city, benefiting from its position on the north-south and east-west trade routes across
2924-648: The Empire. Prizren became one of the larger cities of the Kosovo vilayet ( vilayet ). The Ottoman registers from the 15th-16th century indicate that the villages in the Prizren- Has region in Kosovo had a significant Albanian population. In the Ottoman Defter of 1591, the city of Prizren itself was recorded under the Sanjak of Prizren - this includes the household heads of the city. By this time, Prizren had been significantly Islamised, as reflected by
3010-586: The Evrenos family lived in the city in a large palace in the center of town until then. In the First Balkan War , the Battle of Giannitsa (20 October 1912) was one of the most important battles the Hellenic Army fought. The German army invaded Giannitsa on April 11, 1941 . On April 20, 1941, some Austrian forces arrived. The municipal registry of Giannitsa confirms four random killings in various parts of
3096-715: The German occupation army and joined the 30th Constitution of the E.L.A.S , based in Mount Paiko . The defection of Dorne, and the presence of the Wehrmacht sergeant Schubert , led to mass reprisals on 14 September 1944 in Giannitsa: about 120 residents of Giannitsa were executed by forces of the Jagdkommando Schubert with the collaboration of Greek units under the command of G. Poulos . Among those executed
3182-476: The Ottomans) was an important Ottoman cultural center and sacred area in the 15th and 16th centuries. Starting in the mid-15th century, Giannitsa became a center of literature and the arts. Under Ahmet Bey, a descendant of Gazi Evrenos , many mosques, schools, workhouses and charitable projects were founded. In 1519 ( Hijri 925), its population consisted of 793 Muslim, 25 Christian and 24 Jewish households and it
3268-785: The Serbian Nemanjić dynasty took control of the fort and the town. Prizren served as the capital of the Serbian Empire under the reign of Stefan Dušan , as it bloomed to become an important center of trade and commerce during Dušan's reign. From 1371, a series of regional feudal rulers controlled Prizren, including the Mrnjavčević family , the Balšić noble family , and the Branković dynasty . Ottoman Turks captured Prizren from Serbian Despotate in 1455 and almost immediately served as
3354-531: The Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan that was given to the Monastery of Saint Mihail and Gavril in Prizren between the years of 1348-1353 states the presence of Albanians in the vicinity of Prizren, the Dukagjin Plain and in the villages of Drenica . Within this chrisobull, nine Albanian stock-breeding villages within the vicinity of Prizren are mentioned explicitly - these villages are known with
3440-721: The Ukrainian newspaper Kijewskaja mysl , and reports eventually emerged of widespread killings of Albanians. In a 1912 news report on the Serbian Army and the Paramilitary Chetniks in Prizren, Trotsky stated "Among them were intellectuals, men of ideas, nationalist zealots, but these were isolated individuals. The rest were just thugs, robbers who had joined the army for the sake of loot... The Serbs in Old Serbia , in their national endeavour to correct data in
3526-590: The West in neighbouring Albania; there was however notable resistance in Prizren before Yugoslavia unconditionally surrendered on 19 April 1941. Prizren along with most of Kosovo was annexed to the Italian puppet state of Albania . Soon after the Italian occupation, the Albanian Fascist Party established a blackshirt battalion in Prizren, but plans to establish two more battalions were dropped due to
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3612-665: The abundant Persian-speaking and Persian-writing communities of Vardar Yenicesi, and he referred to the city as a "hotbed of Persian". In the early 20th century, Giannitsa was a battleground between Bulgarian and Greek partisans in the Macedonian struggle . Penelope Delta 's novel Secrets of the Swamp (referring to the shores of Giannitsa Lake) is a romanticised account of this from the Greek point of view. Giannitsa "retained its emphatically Turkish character up to 1912" and members of
3698-493: The anthroponomy of the inhabitants; several cases of Muslim inhabitants with mixtures of Muslim and Albanian anthroponomy exist (i.e. Ali Gjoci, Hasan Gjinaj, Ferhad Reçi, Hasan Bardi... ). The Muslim neighbourhoods ( Mahalla/Mëhalla ) consisted of Xhamia e Vjetër (Old Mosque, 53 homes), Levisha (50 homes), Ajas beu (15 homes), Haxhi Kasem (48 homes), Jazixhi Sinani (71 homes), Çarshia (also called Jakub beu, 18 homes), Kurila (31 homes) and Mëhalla e lëkurëpunuesve (neighbourhood of
3784-527: The area of "Old Market", on the southern hill of the city, there was an Early Neolithic settlement (late 7th to early 6th millennium BC). Giannitsa was also inhabited through the Bronze and Iron Ages. Incidental findings, such as coins, inscriptions, and sculptures indicate that the area was inhabited during the Hellenistic period (323-30BC). In ancient times, the area was called Bottiaea . In the vicinity of
3870-637: The area of Montenegro and possibly the town of Ulqin . Present-day Prizren is first mentioned in 1019 at the time of Basil II (r. 976–1025) in the form of Prisdriana . In 1072, the leaders of the Bulgarian Uprising of Georgi Voiteh traveled from their center in Skopje to the area of Prizren and held a meeting in which they invited Mihailo Vojislavljević of Duklja to send them assistance. Mihailo sent his son, Constantine Bodin , and 300 of his soldiers. Dalassenos Doukas, dux of Bulgaria
3956-454: The area of Prizren, Albanian toponyms were recorded in the 14th and 15th century such as Rudina e Leshit, Truallishta e Gjon Bardhit, Llazi i Tanushit, Truallishta e Komanit, Shpija e Bushatit, Zhur, and Mazrek. With the death of Stefan Uroš V in 1371, a series of competing regional nobles sieged, counter-sieged and held control of Prizren – increasingly with Ottoman support and intervention. The first who tried to gain control of Prizren and
4042-717: The area was inhabited by Albanians and that the Albanian language was spoken there. In the 1630's, the Ottoman Turkish traveller Hajji Khalifa wrote that the town of Prizren was inhabited by Albanians. In 1651, the Albanian Catholic priest of Prizren Gregor Mazrreku reported that many men within Prizen converted to Islam to avoid the Jizya tax, and that they would ask Gregor to give them confession and Holy Communion in secrecy, which he had refused to do. During
4128-446: The area; 14th-century documents refer to a catholic church in Prizren, which was the seat of a bishopric between the 1330s and 1380s. After several years of attack and counterattack, the Ottomans made a major invasion of Kosovo in 1454; Attempts of liberating the Prizren area earlier by Skanderbeg and thereafter by John Hunyadi failed, as Đurađ Branković was an Ottoman vassal at this time and did not grant passage into Kosovo for
4214-404: The camp of Pavlos Melas at Thessaloniki and they killed thirteen. At the same time, the Germans invaded for the first time the village Eleftherohori 7 km (4 mi) away from the city, steal and destroy. In this attack there were no casualties. On 23 March 1944, the village was burned, and the place deserted. Eleftherohori lost 19 lives. On 5 August 1944, the Austrian soldier Otmar Dorne left
4300-423: The capital of Sanjak of Prizren in the Ottoman Empire . While standing as an important administrative city for the Ottomans, Prizren became an important political center for the Albanian National Awakening during the late 19th century. The influence of Islam in Kosovo is evident; 96% of the population identified as Muslim in the most recent census, taken in 2011. Mosques, such as the Sinan Pasha Mosque , are
4386-455: The city ancient towns of Pella and Kyrros and medieval metropolitan centre of Giannitsa were presented. Though there was probably a pre-existing Byzantine castle in the vicinity, the importance of the city of Giannitsa begins with its foundation by Gazi Evrenos in around 1383 – 1387. Giannitsa became the base of the ghazi followers of Evrenos who took Macedonia and later Albania. The city (known as Vardar Yenicesi or Yenice-i Vardar under
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#17327836176264472-405: The city and throughout central Macedonia.) These monuments have been declared historical monuments by the Greek Archaeological Service. Points of interest include also the Cathedral Church of Giannitsa (achieved in 1860), the Neoclassical Multicenter, the Filippeio tourist center, the Macedonian tombs, and the prehistoric settlement of Archontiko. About 10 km (6 mi) northwest of the city
4558-486: The city compared to other cities in Kosovo. Serbian forces destroyed an important Albanian cultural monument in Prizren, the League of Prizren building, but the complex was rebuilt later on and now constitutes the Albanian League of Prizren Museum. On 17 March 2004, during the Unrest in Kosovo some Serb cultural monuments in Prizren were damaged, burned or destroyed, including Orthodox Serb churches, such as Our Lady of Ljeviš from 1307 ( UNESCO World Heritage Site ),
4644-405: The city itself, or in villages around. Such locations include Sredska , Mamushë , and the region of Gora . Much of Potkaljaja, the old Serb neighbourhood along the hillside in the centre of town, was looted and burned to the ground following the Yugoslav Army withdrawal. Since 2010 most of the neighbourhood has been rebuilt. The war and its aftermath caused only a moderate amount of damage to
4730-416: The city. On 16 September 1943, the Municipality of Giannitsa, headed by the Mayor, Thomas Magriotis and the help of local soccer teams organized a demonstration in the city and indulge in German commandant a text against the intention of the Germans to surrender Central Macedonia to the Bulgarians. According to oral testimony on November 13, 1943, the Germans arrested around 50 people, whom they transferred to
4816-453: The correspondence of archbishop Demetrios Chomatenos (1216–36), that Prizren was the northeasternmost area of Albanian settlement prior to the Slavic migrations to the Balkans that began in the 6th century. Historians and linguists have concluded that the northernmost and easternmost expansion of the predecessors of the Albanians prior to Slavic expansion was Lipjan , Vushtrri , Shkup , Nish , Shtip in Dardania and Macedonia and included
4902-533: The economic viability in the region more tenuous. Many restaurants, private retail stores, and service-related businesses operate out of small shops. Larger grocery and department stores have recently opened. In town, there are eight sizeable markets, including three produce markets, one car market, one cattle market, and three personal hygiene and houseware markets. There is an abundance of kiosks selling small goods. However, reducing international presence and repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons
4988-433: The end of the war in June 1999, most of the Albanian population returned to Prizren. Serbian and Roma minorities fled, with the OSCE estimating that 97% of Serbs and 60% of Romani had left Prizren by October. The community is now predominantly ethnically Albanian, but other minorities such as Turkish, Ashkali (a minority declaring itself as Albanian Roma) and Bosniak (including Torbesh community) live there as well, be that in
5074-443: The ethnographical statistics that are not quite favourable to them, are engaged quite simply in systematic extermination of the Muslim population". British traveller Edith Durham and a British military attaché were supposed to visit Prizren in October 1912, however the trip was prevented by the authorities. Durham stated: "I asked wounded Montengrins [Soldiers] why I was not allowed to go and they laughed and said 'We have not left
5160-421: The facts and asking for weapons. The Germans left Giannitsa on November 3, 1944. During this period in the city is formed Bulgarian action committee and later Central Bulgarian-macedonian committee, headed by the local citizen Georgi Kayafov. Also a Thessaloniki bulgarian club branch was formed by locals Georgi Yankulov, Perikle Gyupchinov, Hristo Panayotov and Georgi Kayafov. Giannitsa was an important center in
5246-436: The lack of public support. In 1943 Bedri Pejani of the German Wehrmacht helped create the Second League of Prizren . In 1944, German forces were driven out of Kosovo by a combined Russian-Bulgarian force, and then the Communist government of Yugoslavia took control. In 1946, the town was formulated as a part of Kosovo and Metohija which the Constitution defined the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija within
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#17327836176265332-422: The late Iron Age (c. 1st century CE) and is comparable to the material found in the nearby prehistoric site in the village of Vlashnjë (~10 km west of Prizren). In 2005, prehistoric rock paintings in a ritual site related to the cycle of life were found near Vlashnjë. They represent the first find of prehistoric rock art in the region. In late antiquity, the fortification saw a phase of reconstruction. It
5418-520: The leatherworkers, 34 homes) . The Christian neighbourhoods ( Mahalla/Mëhalla ) consisted of Pazari i Vjetër (Old Market, 8 homes), Madhiq (37 homes), Vasil (27 homes), Kodha (13 homes), Çarshia/Pjetri Nikolla (14 homes), Bogoi Riber (11 homes), Radmir (51 homes), Jazixhi Sinani (mentioned beforehand, 24 homes), Pandelja (29 homes), Prend Vriça (9 homes) and Ajas (13 homes) . The neighbourhoods of Pandelja, Jazixhi Sinani and Kodha were dominated by inhabitants with characteristically Albanian anthroponomy;
5504-405: The local Albanian leaders to sign a declaration of gratitude to King Peter I of Serbia for their "liberation by the Serbian army". Following the capture of Prizren, most foreigners were barred from entering the city as the Montenegrin forces temporarily closed the city before full control was restored. A few visitors did make it through, including Leon Trotsky , then working as a journalist for
5590-401: The names Gjinovci (Gjinajt), Magjerci, Bjellogllavci (Kryebardhët), Flokovci (Flokajt), Crnça, Caparci (Çaparajt), Gjonovci (Gjonajt), Shpinadinci (Shpinajt) and Novaci. Entire Albanian villages were gifted by Serbian kings, particularly Stefan Dušan , as presents to Serb monasteries within Prizren, Deçan and Tetova . Additionally, people with Albanian anthroponomy are repeatedly mentioned in
5676-468: The other neighbourhoods saw a blend between predominantly Slavic/Slavic-Albanian (or rather, Orthodox) anthroponomy. Lazaro Soranzo, writing in the 16th century, noted the town was inhabited "more by Albanians then by Serbs". In 1624 Pjeter Mazrreku reported the town was inhabited by 12,000 Muslims, almost all of them Albanians (‘Turchi, quasi tutti Albanesi’), 200 Catholics and 600 'Serviani'. Gjergj Bardhi , during his visit in Prizren, wrote in 1638 that
5762-420: The outbreak of the First World War , the Kingdom of Serbia was invaded by Austro-Hungarian forces and later by Bulgarian forces. By 29 November 1915, Prizren fell to Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian forces. In April 1916, Austria-Hungary allowed the Kingdom of Bulgaria to occupy the city with the understanding that a significant amount of the city's population were ethnic Bulgarians . During this period, there
5848-408: The population of Kosovo remained mostly Albanian. In 1913, an official Austro-Hungarian report recorded that 30,000 people had fled to Prizren from Bosnia . In January 1914 the Austro-Hungarian consul based in Prizren conducted a detailed report on living conditions in the city. The report stated that Kingdom of Serbia didn't keep its promise for equal treatment of Albanians and Muslims. Thirty of
5934-404: The restoration of Serbian rule, Prizren and the region of Dečani to the west remained centres of Albanian nationalism. In 1956 the Yugoslav secret police put on trial in Prizren nine Kosovo Albanians accused of having been infiltrated into the country by the (hostile) Communist Albanian regime of Enver Hoxha . The "Prizren trial" became something of a cause célèbre after it emerged that
6020-399: The ruins of ancient Pella , birthplace of Alexander the Great and capital of ancient Macedonia . The city is 48 km (30 mi) from Thessaloniki . The city was founded as Yenice-i Vardar Ottoman Turkish يڭيجۀ واردار 'new (town) of Vardar' in around 1383 – 1387. It was sometimes called Evrenos Beg yöresi ' Evrenos Bey 's town'. The Turkish name, in the form Yenitsa (Γενιτσά),
6106-410: The southwest and North Macedonia to the southeast. Prizren has a subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfa) bordering a continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfa) in the 0°c isotherm and an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb) in the -3°c isotherm. with an average annual temperature of 11.8 °C (53.2 °F). The warmest month in Prizren
6192-468: The thirty-two mosques in Prizren had been turned into hay barns, ammunition stores and military barracks. The people of the city were heavily taxed, with Muslims and Catholic Christians having to pay more tax than Orthodox Christians. The local government was predominately made up of former Serb Chetniks. The report also noted that the Serbs were also dissatisfied with the living conditions in Prizren. With
6278-602: The trade that passed through the town was Prince Marko , but after his defeat in the Battle of Maritsa in September 1371, the Balšići of the Principality of Zeta moved to take Prizren in the fall and winter of 1371. In the spring of 1372, Nikola Altomanović besieged Prizren and tried to expand his rule, but was defeated. The death of Đurađ I Balšić in 1377 created another power vacuum – Đurađ Branković then took over Prizren. The Catholic Church retained some influence in
6364-546: The war, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe estimated that the municipality's population was about 78% Kosovo Albanian, 5% Serb and 17% from other national communities. During the war most of the Albanian population were either forced or intimidated into leaving the town. Tusus Neighborhood suffered the most. Some twenty-seven to thirty-four people were killed and over one hundred houses were burned. At
6450-680: Was a zeamet of Mevlana Ahmet Çelebi. Although Persian was widely studied in the Ottoman-held Balkans ( Rumelia ), Vardar Yenicesi differed from other localities in the Balkans insofar as that it was a town where Persian was also widely spoken. However, the Persian of Vardar Yenicesi and throughout the rest of the Ottoman-held Balkans was different from formal Persian both in accent and vocabulary. The difference
6536-681: Was a process of forced Bulgarisation with many Serbs being interned ; Serbs suffered worse in Bulgarian occupied regions of Kosovo compared to Austrian occupied regions due to the Bulgarian defeat in the Second Balkan War and due to the long-standing rivalry between the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church . According to Catholic Archbishop of Skopje , Lazër Mjeda who
6622-403: Was apparent to such a degree that the Ottomans referred to it as "Rumelian Persian" ( Rumili Farsisi ). As learned people such as students, scholars and literati often frequented Vardar Yenicesi, it soon became the site of a flourishing Persianate linguistic and literary culture. The 16th-century Ottoman Aşık Çelebi (died 1572), who hailed from Prizren in modern-day Kosovo , was galvanized by
6708-494: Was buried in the Monastery of the Holy Archangels in Prizren. Prizen briefly served as the capital of the Serbian Empire and was a crossroad of important trade goods between Dubrovnik and Constantinople. In 1330, Serbian king Stefan Dečanski explicitly mentioned the presence of Albanians and the Albanian names of villages in Kosovo, in particular in the districts of Prizren and that of Skopje . A chrisobull of
6794-557: Was part of the İpek Detachment in the First Balkan War . During the First Balkan War , the city was invaded by the Serbian army and incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbia . Although the troops met little resistance, the takeover was bloody, with 400 people dead in the first few days; the local population would call the city "The Kingdom of Death." The Daily Chronicle reported on 12 November 1912 that 5,000 Albanians were slaughtered in Prizren. Serbian general Božidar Janković forced
6880-643: Was renamed in 1929 to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Prizren became a part of its Vardar Banovina . In World War II Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941 and by 9 April the Germans who had invaded Yugoslavia from the East with neighbouring Bulgaria as base were on the outskirts of Prizren and by 14 April Prizren had fallen to the Italians who had invaded Yugoslavia from
6966-464: Was sent against the combined forces, but was defeated near Prizren, which was then extensively plundered by the Serbian army. The Bulgarian magnates proclaimed Bodin "Emperor of the Bulgarians" after this initial victory. They were defeated by Nikephoros Bryennios in the area of northern Macedonia by the end of 1072. The area was raided by Serbian ruler Vukan in the 1090s. Demetrios Chomatenos
7052-584: Was taking refuge in Prizren at the time, roughly 1,000 people had died of hunger in 1917. In October 1918 following the fall of Macedonia to Allied Forces , the Serbian Army along with the French 11th colonial division and the Italian 35th Division pushed the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces out of the city. By the end of 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed. The Kingdom
7138-609: Was the Mayor, Thomas Mangriotis. The Swedish ambassador Timberg indicated that one third of the city was destroyed by fire. The citizens left the city. Emile Wenger visited Giannitsa few days after the mass execution, as a representative of the International Red Cross and wrote "Giannitsa is already a dead city". On 20 September 1944, a citizens' committee sent a message to the National Government stating
7224-566: Was the final act of establishing Serbian Nemanjić rule in the town. Prizren and its fort were the administrative and economic center of the župa of Podrimlje (in Albanian, Podrima or Anadrini). The old town of Prizren developed below the fortress along the left bank of the Bistrica/Lumbardhi. Ragusan traders were stationed in the old town. Prizren over time became a trading hub and gateway for Ragusan trade towards eastern Kosovo and beyond. In this period, Stefan Dušan founded and
7310-657: Was the site of the creation of the League of Prizren , a movement formed to seek the national unification and autonomy of Albanians within the Ottoman Empire. The Young Turk Revolution was a step in the dissolving of the Ottoman empire that led to the Balkan Wars. The Third Army (Ottoman Empire) had a division in Prizren, the 30th Reserve Infantry Division ( Otuzuncu Pirzerin Redif Fırkası ). The Prizren attachment
7396-433: Was used until February 1926 when its name was Hellenized as Giannitsa (Γιαννιτσά). In other languages, the city is called: Ottoman Turkish Yenice-i Vardar ('new-town of Vardar', as opposed to Yenice-i Karasu , modern Genisea , near Xanthi and known for tobacco), Turkish Yenice or Vardar Yenicesi , Bulgarian : Енидже Вардар , Enidzhe Vardar or Пазар Pazar , Macedonian : Ениџе Вардар , Enidzhe Vardar . In
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