Podujevo
Encyclopedia
Podujevo or Podujeva is a town and municipality
located in the district of Pristina of north-eastern Kosovo
.
Podujevo is situated in a strategic position due to a regional motorway and railroad passing through it which links surrounding regions. Pristina
, the capital of Kosovo, is located some 35 km (22 mi) to the south. Although there is no official data, the total population of the municipality is estimated at 87,933, including the estimated 35,000 inhabitants of the town.
(KLA), Zahir Pajaziti
, was from the Podujevo region.
During the 1998-99 Kosovo War
, the town was the site of the Podujevo massacre
, on March 28, in which 14 Kosovo Albanian
women and children were executed by Serbian paramilitary forces.
Podujevo is known for its cattle trade and for its battlefields during the Kosovo War. It has over 70 villages. Podujevo is not one of the major cities of Kosovo, but has a good potential to invite tourists from around Kosovo and other foreign places for its beautiful mountains and Lake Batlava
.
The road coming into Podujevo from Central Serbia
was the site of the 2001 Podujevo bus bombing, when 12 Serb pilgrims heading to the Gračanica monastery
site were killed and dozens more were injured by a bomb placed by Albanian terrorists.
During the violent unrest
in 2004, the Serbian Orthodox
Saint Elijah Church in Podujevo was burned down and desecrated by Albanian extremists.
Municipalities of Kosovo
A Municipality is the basic administrative division in Kosovo.-List of Municipalities:The first name is Serbian and the second one is Albanian:* Dečani / Deçan* Dragaš / Dragash* Đakovica / Gjakovë* Glogovac / Gllogovc * Gnjilane / Gjilan...
located in the district of Pristina of north-eastern Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
.
Podujevo is situated in a strategic position due to a regional motorway and railroad passing through it which links surrounding regions. Pristina
Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
, the capital of Kosovo, is located some 35 km (22 mi) to the south. Although there is no official data, the total population of the municipality is estimated at 87,933, including the estimated 35,000 inhabitants of the town.
Name
The Albanian name Besiana dates back at least from the 6th century in the writings of Prokopius, who lists Podujevo's fort as one of the forts of Dardania restaured by Justinian.Recent history
The founding member of the Kosovo Liberation ArmyKosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
(KLA), Zahir Pajaziti
Zahir Pajaziti
Zahir Pajaziti was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army. In 2008, former president of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu declared him a Hero of Kosovo.- References :...
, was from the Podujevo region.
During the 1998-99 Kosovo War
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
, the town was the site of the Podujevo massacre
Podujevo massacre
The Podujevo massacre is the name generally used to refer to the killing of 19 Kosovo Albanian civilians, all women and children, committed by Serbian paramilitary forces in March 1999 during the Kosovo war....
, on March 28, in which 14 Kosovo Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
women and children were executed by Serbian paramilitary forces.
Podujevo is known for its cattle trade and for its battlefields during the Kosovo War. It has over 70 villages. Podujevo is not one of the major cities of Kosovo, but has a good potential to invite tourists from around Kosovo and other foreign places for its beautiful mountains and Lake Batlava
Lake Batlava
Batlava Lake refers to both a lake and resort located in Kosovo.-History:The local village of Batlava was founded by Serbian workers in electrodistribution. Until 1932, the Ristić family was the only family to have lived in the village. They eventually relocated elsewhere in Serbia due to the...
.
The road coming into Podujevo from Central Serbia
Central Serbia
Central Serbia , also referred to as Serbia proper , was the region of Serbia from 1945 to 2009. It included central parts of Serbia outside of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. The region of Central Serbia was not an administrative division of Serbia as such; it was under the...
was the site of the 2001 Podujevo bus bombing, when 12 Serb pilgrims heading to the Gračanica monastery
Gracanica monastery
Gračanica is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Kosovo. It was founded by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321. Gračanica Monastery was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia, and on 13 July 2006 it was placed on UNESCO's...
site were killed and dozens more were injured by a bomb placed by Albanian terrorists.
During the violent unrest
2004 unrest in Kosovo
Violent unrest in Kosovo, which at the time was under United Nations administration, broke out on 17 March 2004. Kosovo Albanians, numbering over 50,000, took part in widescale attacks on the Serbian people, compared by the then Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica to ethnic cleansing but not...
in 2004, the Serbian Orthodox
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
Saint Elijah Church in Podujevo was burned down and desecrated by Albanian extremists.
Notable people
- Fadil VokrriFadil VokrriFadil Vokrri is a former Yugoslav football player, from the 1980s.Vokrri was known for his Diego Maradona-like approach with quick movement and strong shooting...
- Adem DemaciAdem DemaçiAdem Demaçi is a Kosovo Albanian writer and politician and a longtime political prisoner who spent a total of 28 years in prison for speaking out against the poor treatment of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia as well as criticizing communism and the regime of Josip Broz Tito...
- Lutfi LepajaLutfi LepajaLutfi Lepaja an Albanian writer born on 20 May 1945 in Bajçinë, village of Podujeva, Kosovë. Lutfi Lepaja is author of more than 10 different volumes .- Biography :...
, writer - Agon MehmetiAgon MehmetiAgon Mehmeti is a Kosovar born Swedish footballer and a striker. He will join the Italian Serie A club Palermo on 1 January 2012.-Malmö FF:...
, footballer - Kastriot Krasniqi , writer