Gracanica Monastery, Kosovo

Another Unesco card, this time from Kosovo. This arrived from a swap with Sini of Finland. I think this is only my second or so postcard from Kosovo as well. Gracanica Monastery is one of the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo.

Gračanica is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Kosovo. It was rebuild by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321 on the ruins of a 6th-century early Christian three-naved basilica. Gračanica Monastery was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by Republic of Kosovo and considered as protected monument by Republic of Serbia because of the unaccepted self declared independence of Kosovo, and on 13 July 2006 it was placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List under the name of Medieval Monuments in Kosovo as an extension of the Visoki Dečani site which was overall placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The Gračanica Monastery is one of King Milutin's last monumental endowments. It is situated in the village of Gračanica, a Serb enclave 5 km (3.1 mi) from Pristina. The monastery is in the close vicinity of Lipljan (ancient Roman town of Ulpiana), the old residence of bishops.

Prishtina, Kosovo

One more card for today, and this one is quite a treat, too, or at least something I never thought I'd ever get. I mean Kosovo isn't exactly a hugely popular tourist destination... I can't help feeling a little sad looking at this postcard. It's what the sender, "pierresurleciel" wrote, it's so sad to see how two nations live side by side but not together, and not even understanding the other side's language. Here's hoping the situation over there will get better one day.



Prishtina is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district.

It is estimated that the current population of the city stands between 500,000 and 600,000. Preliminary results of 2011 census puts population of Pristina at 200.000. The city has a majority Albanian population, alongside other smaller communities including Bosniaks, Roma and others. It is the administrative, educational, and cultural centre of Kosovo. The city is home to the University of Pristina and is served by the Pristina International Airport.

Prishtina lies in the north-eastern part of Kosovo close to the Goljak mountains. From Pristina there is a good view of the Šar Mountains which lie several kilometres away in the south of Kosovo. Pristina is located beside two large towns, Obilić and Kosovo Polje. In fact Pristina has grown so much these past years that it has connected with Kosovo Polje. Lake Badovac is just a few kilometres to the south of the city.



The stamp is from a set of 5 stamps depicting local costumes, issued in 2007 by the United Nations Adminstration Kosovo.