Saturday , February 8 2025

Kosovo: An Unexpected Journey

 

 

 

The lack of direct flight connections between Greece and Kosovo (there are flights via Istanbul or Vienna) has not helped us get to know our neighbors. And if Kosovars love and visit Greece for most of us, even though 25 years have passed since the end of the Kosovo war, it remains a poor and degraded corner of the Balkans. How true is this?

From top left and clockwise: Statue of national hero Gjergj Kastrioti in Pristina. Nature in the Gora region. The Serbian Orthodox Gracanica Monastery, the impressive building of the National Library of Kosovo, Skanderbeg Square, Jashar Pasha Mosque, all in Pristina.

 

Prishtina: The country’s modern identity

So, what is it like to travel to this unknown country? The answer is: completely different from what you would expect, starting from the capital. Prishtina is a modern, safe, clean and completely Western-style city. Its main disadvantage is the constant traffic jams on the roads. Here and there, among the unfamiliar street names, one catches the eye of some more well-known ones, such as George Bush Street, Bill Clinton Avenue, Garibaldi Street and Tirana Street, which expresses the good diplomatic relations between Kosovo and the US, Italy and of course Albania.

The oldest building in Pristina is the Çarshi Mosque (Stone Mosque), founded in 1389 and today a landmark of the old city. The most unique building is the one that houses the National Library, with 99 small and large domes. The oldest object in the city is the “Goddess in the Front”, a Neolithic terracotta statue, dated 5700-4500 BC, discovered in Pristina and exhibited in the National Museum. And the most delicious food we tried was thick red paça boiled with garlic, in a restaurant with closed doors and customers smoking.

From top left and clockwise: White hard sari cheese (sharri), main pedestrian street, mosque, the modern face of the country, interior view of the National Library of Kosovo. Interior decoration in a mosque.

 

In the south of the country, in the three-ethnic region of Kosovo-Albania-North Macedonia, lies the region of Gora, where most of the inhabitants belong to the Gorani ethnic group. Among them is a farming couple who preserve the tradition of making homemade cheese. Amanda and Jasmin have 13 free-range cows. In the winter they look after the animals and from spring to mid-autumn they make cheese. They work in a building that looks like a hut, a makeshift construction made of cement blocks. Here, in a wood-fired oven with a cooking surface they boil the milk, then drain it, pass the cheese through cheesecloth or let it ripen, depending on the needs of each type. They produce white sharri cheese, urda cheese (ricotta), yogurt and a cheese-like spread that is placed on bread and accompanied by tea. A lover of cheese (which he considers a sign of culture, capable of revealing the past of a community) and an excellent connoisseur of local products, Jeton Jagxhiu acts as a translator and helps us understand the daily life of this couple in the most remote corners of Kosovo.

About 60 km north of Gora lies the village of Krushë e Madhe, a place that paid a heavy blood tax during the war. One woman who stood on her own two feet, despite personal losses, giving strength to others is Fahrije Hoti. Her story is not simply a success story – although she was declared “European of the Year 2022 for Kosovo” and her life was filmed in the multi-award-winning film “The Queen of the Hive” in 2021. Fahrije is the personification of the human need for creation, which arises after every great disaster. After the mass massacres in Krushë e Madhe (243 men were killed or are still missing), Fahrije, in an attempt to stay alive, started producing and selling small quantities of ajvar. Along the way, she gathered other widows from the village, creating the Krusha cooperative. The cooperative grew, attracted the interest of international media and has now become a regular factory, with the capacity to process 1,500 tons of vegetables per season. In addition to ajvar, they also produce various types of pickles (peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots) with raw materials from Kosovo and Albania. Often, as is the case in Greece, they have difficulties finding land workers to cultivate and harvest vegetables, as most young people do not want to work in the primary sector. If you travel to Kosovo, it is worth visiting this place up close, but especially meeting Fahrija, a unique woman and a great leader who radically changed the fate of her village.

 

The vineyards of the Rahovec region are famous for the quality of their wines.

 

Wine and spirits: wedded to the country

There are two other places that contribute in their own way to the development of cultural diplomacy in the neighboring country. The first is the renovated, well-equipped and large Bodrumi i Vjetër winery in the town of Rahovec, which is known for its wine production and vineyards. The winery was founded in the 1950s and operated under state control until 2006, when it was privatized. It produces wines from red and white, Western European and Balkan varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Vranc, Chardonnay, Riesling), as well as some spirits such as Kosovo Brandy. Its production capacity is 6.5 million liters per year and its wines are exported to several countries, from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to Switzerland, Norway and Japan. It is open for wine tourism, with visits to the vineyards and tastings. Beyond all this, it also hides very beautiful stories related to the archeology and political course of modern Kosovo. Seek to learn the history of the elephant, which gives its name to the Elephant labels. (bodrumivjeter.com).

The second place is the Vidasus distillery, which is the last stop on our journey and is located next to a small river, on the border of Kosovo with Albania. Its creator is Ali Alijaj, a passionate and hospitable distiller, who had emigrated for a while to Germany, but had decided to return to Kosovo. His figure is bucolic with a shaved head and a long beard and matches the illustrations on the bottles of his drinks, which depict tragomorphic men and women. Ali, in his small factory, produces gin from juniper and wild fruits, herbal liqueurs from the Albanian Alps, handmade vodka and plum distillation, among others. Walk past this small production area, with its stable, tasting room where spirits are tested, and a café where locals gather for raki, cigarettes, and conversation. You will find yourself in a very special place, which hides within it, in equal parts, Europe and the Balkans at their best.

 

Translated text from an article by the Greek journalist, Mrs. Eleftheria Alavanou, which she wrote after her vacations in Kosovo and was published for To BHMA.

 

https://www.tovima.gr/2025/01/15/diakopes/kosovo-ena-anapantexo-taksidi/

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