Religious Monuments and Sites in Kosovo: Legal Framework Approach on Reuse and Regeneration

Abstract

Kosovo has 393 protected religious monuments and sites. These religious monuments and sites belong to three major religions in Kosovo: Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic. Most of the protected religious monuments and sites are still being used for religious rituals and ceremonies. Kosovo is a developing country, and its religious communities often express their needs for constructing new religious buildings. Two most recent ones, the Catholic Cathedral, and the Muslim Mosque, which are less than ten minutes apart walking in the center of Prishtina, are still under construction. Except from the practice of conserving and restoring the religious monuments for their original use, lately there is an increasing trend for reconstructing religious buildings even inside of archaeological sites. There are also requests for demolishing of the existing protected religious buildings, and building new modern ones. Cultural Heritage Law in Kosovo, which entered into force in 2008, is in full accordance with international charters and conventions in the cultural heritage field, and excludes both of these approaches: reconstruction on archaeological sites, or demolition in the name of “lost values”.KeywordsKosovoRegenerationCultural Heritage LawLegal frameworkSustainabilityInclusion