Harman Patil (Editor)

Skenderaj

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Country
  
Kosovo

Elevation
  
620 m (2,030 ft)

Postal code
  
41000

Area
  
374 km²

Team
  
KF Drenica

District
  
District of Mitrovica

Time zone
  
CET (UTC+1)

Area code(s)
  
+383 28

Population
  
51,553 (2011)

Skenderaj

Weather
  
21°C, Wind SW at 8 km/h, 34% Humidity

Skenderaj (Albanian: Skënderaj) or Srbica (Serbian: Србица, Srbica) is a city and municipality in the District of Mitrovica of northern Kosovo. It is the largest city in the Drenica region of Kosovo. It is solely populated by Albanians. It is claimed to be the poorest city in Kosovo. It is the place where the Kosovo War began in 1998, and to which the most damage was done.

Contents

Map of Skenderaj

Alban skenderaj ft elinel kam nevoje official video hd


Geography

The settlement is located by the Klina river, in the Klina field (Klinsko polje). It is the main settlement of the Drenica region. The Klina river belongs to the Metohija region, while the settlement morphologically and hydrologically gravitates towards the Kosovo region.

The municipality covers an area of 378 km2, including the town of Skenderaj and 51 villages.

History

Archaeological findings in the municipality area include a Neolithic site in Rudnik, and remains of a Roman necropolis in Gornji Obilić. The municipality cadastral area includes several settlements that existed during the Middle Ages, among which some exist still today, such as Leočina, Poljance, Banja, and others. There are ruins of a church dating to the 14th century in southern Leočina. The Church of St. Nicholas was built in 1436, in Banja, as the endowment of Serbian magnate Rodop. The Devič monastery was built in Lauša near Srbica in the 15th century, dedicated to the local monk, St. Joanikije (d. 1430). The Church of St. John was built in the 16th century on the ruins of a 14th-century church, in Leočina; the church is surrounded by an old and large Serbian graveyard with tombs dating to the 17th–19th centuries. A 16th-century church and cemetery is located in Rudnik.

The town (varoš) itself was established as Srbica in 1924. It had 30 houses inhabited by Serbs and Montenegrins.

In the 20th century Albanian resistance began with the Kachak movement led by Azem Bejta and his wife, Shote Galica, who fought against Bulgarian, Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav forces. At the end of World War II in 1944, the leader of the Drenica Brigade Shaban Polluzha refused to lead his 12,000 men north and join the Partisans in order to pursue the retreating Germans, because Serbian Chetnik groups were attacking the Albanian population in Kosovo.

Economy

Skenderaj has historically been the poorest municipality in Kosovo, with little investment having been made since the time of the former Yugoslavia. It suffers from low economic activity and continuous high unemployment. Agriculture is the major local industry but the municipality has not fully developed existing arable land. Today, the local economy consists of small enterprises such as family-run shops and restaurants while two privatized factories, a brick and a flour mill, employ a few hundred people. The other major sector of employment is the municipality’s civil service.

Sport

Skënderaj is home of the Kosovar Superliga football club KF Drenica. which plays their home games in the Bajram Aliu Stadium. Skënderaj is also home of the Kosovar Superliga volleyball club KV Skenderaj women's and KV Drenica men's.

Cultural heritage

  • Devič, Serbian Orthodox abbey
  • Notable people

  • Đurađ Branković, Serbian Despot and founder of Devič
  • Adem Jashari, Kosovo Liberation Army leader, born in Prekaz
  • Hashim Thaçi, President of Kosovo (2016–present)
  • Hamëz Jashari, co-founder of KLA and brother of Adem Jashari
  • Hasan Prishtina, political leader of Albanian National Movement
  • Sylejman Selimi, comrade of Jashari
  • Shote Galica, Kachak leader
  • Përparim Hetemaj, footballer
  • Mehmet Hetemaj, footballer
  • Ahmet Delia, activist of League of Prizren
  • References

    Skenderaj Wikipedia