Session

Architecture and Spatial Planning

Description

The territories of Kosovo do hold quite a number of historic sacral monuments that several national entities call “their” architectural heritage. Can we really speak of a single nations’ heritage in territories where, through the course of history, the politically leading or majority nation was shifted in place? To which nation does immoveable heritage belong, if the nation is no longer dwelling around the monument? Who takes care of such national heritage? Is heritage “national”? How can a national state administrate and manage architectural heritage that is not considered to be “his” national heritage? Questions like those are current status for Kosovo nowadays. Answers are getting more urgent as the new state has to complete his new legislation within this or the next year(s). Kosovo hardly knows about all of his built heritage, as many of the information collected in the past is scattered in different national archives refusing exchange of information and documents. And finally , hasn’t the term “national” heritage any how been rep laced by “world heritage” within the last decades? But again, how can the care and protection of this heritage be managed in future, by national states and their national heritage organizations or by the international community and its official organizations? The paper is not trying to answer those questions but to show irrelevant the terminus of national heritage nowadays became. Therefore it will dig into the history of several buildings, ensembles and towns in Kosovo and trace back their architectural history, like for Novo Brdo and Gracanica, Prizren, Decani and Peja. Additionally it will show that this is not a unique situation for a specific region, but that similar cases have happened elsewhere in Europe, too.

Keywords:

Architectural Heritage, Care and Protection of Monuments, Christian Basilica, documentation and Inventory, National Monument, Ottoman Mosque, Sacral Architecture, Serbian Orthodox Church

Proceedings Editor

Edmond Hajrizi

ISBN

978-9951-550-13-0

First Page

79

Last Page

84

Location

Durres, Albania

Start Date

7-11-2015 9:00 AM

End Date

7-11-2015 5:00 PM

DOI

10.33107/ubt-ic.2015.64

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Nov 7th, 9:00 AM Nov 7th, 5:00 PM

Christian Basilica, Serbian Orthodox Church or Ottoman Mosque? Some remarks on national monuments of sacral architecture

Durres, Albania

The territories of Kosovo do hold quite a number of historic sacral monuments that several national entities call “their” architectural heritage. Can we really speak of a single nations’ heritage in territories where, through the course of history, the politically leading or majority nation was shifted in place? To which nation does immoveable heritage belong, if the nation is no longer dwelling around the monument? Who takes care of such national heritage? Is heritage “national”? How can a national state administrate and manage architectural heritage that is not considered to be “his” national heritage? Questions like those are current status for Kosovo nowadays. Answers are getting more urgent as the new state has to complete his new legislation within this or the next year(s). Kosovo hardly knows about all of his built heritage, as many of the information collected in the past is scattered in different national archives refusing exchange of information and documents. And finally , hasn’t the term “national” heritage any how been rep laced by “world heritage” within the last decades? But again, how can the care and protection of this heritage be managed in future, by national states and their national heritage organizations or by the international community and its official organizations? The paper is not trying to answer those questions but to show irrelevant the terminus of national heritage nowadays became. Therefore it will dig into the history of several buildings, ensembles and towns in Kosovo and trace back their architectural history, like for Novo Brdo and Gracanica, Prizren, Decani and Peja. Additionally it will show that this is not a unique situation for a specific region, but that similar cases have happened elsewhere in Europe, too.