Location Prizren, Kosovo Founded 1306–1307 Functional status Active Status Church Function Place of worship | Denomination Serbian Orthodox Dedication Theotokos Address Sahat Kulla, Prizren Founder Stefan Milutin Extension 2006 | |
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Heritage designation Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance Serbia Diocese Eparchy of Raška and Prizren Similar Patriarchate of Peć, Gračanica Monastery, Visoki Dečani, Sinan Pasha Mosque, Prizren Fortress | ||
Our Lady of Ljeviš (Serbian: Богородица Љевишка/Bogorodica Ljeviška, Albanian: Kisha e Shën Premtës) is a 14th-century Serbian Orthodox church in the town of Prizren, located in southern Kosovo. It was converted to a mosque during the Ottoman Empire and then back into a church in the early 20th century.
History
The construction of the church was commissioned in 1306–9 by Serbian King Stefan Milutin. It was built on the site of the ruins of an earlier Byzantine church, whose original name Metera Eleousa was preserved in Slavic as Bogorodica Ljeviška.
In 1990 Serbia designated it a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance, and on 13 July 2006, it was placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List as an extension of the Visoki Dečani site (named Medieval Monuments in Kosovo), which, as a whole, was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Church was guarded by KFOR after June 1999. However, it was heavily damaged by arson during the 2004 unrest in Kosovo. Around 35 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries have been destroyed or damaged, usually by arson, including medieval holy sites.
A group of experts sponsored by Serbia has visited the church on several occasions to assess the damage, but no concrete steps have been taken. The church is subject to constant looting -- even construction material, specifically lead, have repeatedly been stolen from the roof.