Priština

I found the centre of Priština (map) quite surreal: presumably because of the presence of so many international agencies and personnel, it was really quite swish, with lots of good restaurants, - except not at Paris prices.

Priština cakes...

To find a more characterful area, we headed north out of the centre, where we found a hamam and a cluster of mosques, including the Jashar Pasha Mosque, currently being restored, but which was gloriously painted.

Jashar Pasha Mosque

Signs of the recent conflict were frequent, though, including the wall of photographs of missing people outside the ministry of Justice, and the Swedish KFOR soldier not-so-discreetly stationed outside Gračanica Monastery.

Memorial to Zahir Pajaziti

Gračanica monastery (map) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery just a few miles south Priština which was founded in 1321 by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2006, and has quite wonderful frescoes. Alas, as ever, no photographs, so the one below is in lieu... The nuns there, though, were very kind, and we were fortunate to witness an Orthodox baptism. The priest's chanting seemed to fascinate the baby, - he stopped crying just as the priest started intoning, - but only for a few minutes. After that, he shewed how healthy he was, which made for some interesting dissonances!

Gračanica Monastery