Medieval Monuments in Kosovo

See above

• Lack of legal status of the property
• Lack of legislative protection of buffer zones
• Lack of implementation of the Management Plan and of active management
• Difficulties to monitor the property due to political instability, post-conflict situation (visits under the Kosovo Stabilisation Force / United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (KFOR / UNMIK) escort and lack of guards and security)
• Unsatisfactory state of conservation and maintenance of the property

• Full and permanent protection of the property in a secure and stable political environment
• Agreed medium-term plan for the restoration of wall paintings (including preventive conservation regime) and conservation and rehabilitation of the property
• Implementation of the Management Plan, and full establishment of buffer zones and boundaries including their legal protection

Urgent / short-term corrective measures:

1. Put in place appropriate guarding and security arrangements for the Church of the Virgin of Ljevisa;
2. Prepare a conservation status report including a condition survey for the wall paintings and the status of the conservation works and take temporary measures where there is an urgent need (for example the lead roof of the west bay of the nave of the Church of Virgin of Ljevisa, that was partly removed);
3. Prepare a risk preparedness study, in conformity with Paragraph 118 of the Operational Guidelines and with Decisions 28 COM 10B.4 and 30 COM 7.2;

Long-term corrective measures:

1. Ensure the adequate long-term administrative, regulatory protection and management of the property, in conformity with Paragraph 97 of the Operational Guidelines;
2. Put in place strong protective regimes for the buffer zones;
3. Adequately delineate the boundaries (e.g. extend the boundaries of the Patriarchate of Pec to include more of its riverside-valley settings);
4. Prepare detailed state of conservation reports as a basis for adapted monitoring, preventative conservation measures, and specific conservation projects to reverse decline;
5. Ensure appropriate and timely implementation of the Management Plan.

• Urgent / short-term corrective measures to be taken by the State Party, in cooperation with UNESCO programmes, UNMIK and Provisional Institutions of Self Government in Kosovo*;
• Regarding the long-term corrective measures to be taken by the State Party, in cooperation with UNESCO programmes, UNMIK and Provisional Institutions of Self Government in Kosovo, no specific timeframe can be given at this stage due to the uncertain political situation.

* References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).

Total amount granted: USD 2,798,348 in 2008-2014 following the Donors Conference for the Protection and Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Kosovo, May 2005; USD 693,330 in 2008-2013 by the Italian Government; USD 76,335 in 2008-2013 by the Czech Government; USD 132,833 in 2008-2013 by the Greek Government; USD 2,010,000 in 2011-2014 by the Government of the Russian Federation and USD 45,000 in 2012-2013 by the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria

• Note: The Secretariat was informed by UNESCO’s Legal Advisor in 2008 that the UNESCO Secretariat follows the practice of the United Nations, which considers that the Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) continues to be applicable to the territory of Kosovo until a final settlement is achieved.

At its 43rd session (Baku, 2019), the World Heritage Committee decided to adjourn the debate on the state of conservation of the property (Decision 43 COM 7A.46) until its next ordinary session. The State of conservation report submitted to the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd session is available on the World Heritage Centre’s website at the following page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/724/documents/.

On 30 January 2020, the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to UNESCO submitted a State of conservation report to the World Heritage Committee, followed by additional information on 29 January 2021, which is available on the World Heritage Centre’s website at the following page: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/724/documents/ . The report provides the following information:

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no conservation intervention took place at the Dečani Monastery in 2020. The site’s overall integrity and security were endangered by the construction of the main road Dečani-Plav in the vicinity of the Visoki Dečani Monastery Special Protected Zone (SPZ). The road construction initiated in May 2018 caused limited damage to the terrain within the protected area, which has not since been restored to its original state. On 8 November 2020, the Implementation and Monitoring Council, which includes the local authorities, representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church and other denominations, as well as the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), reached an auspicious agreement that the international bypass road would not be a part of the regional road and that bulky obstacles would be placed to prevent heavy vehicles from using this latter. The members of the Implementation and Monitoring Council committed to ensure the monitoring of the implementation of the agreement with support of the Kosovo Force (KFOR);
• At the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery, the construction of drainage channels for the discharge of atmospheric precipitation from the roofs of the churches was carried out in 2019 to avoid damage to the monument elements and structures, generally caused by abundant spring and summer rain showers. The Serbian Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments has continued to work on the preparation of a project documentation, which began in 2018, for the rehabilitation of the Holy Apostles’ church roof. Despite the fact that the no conservation work was conducted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that the monastery was closed to visitors most of the year, the monitoring of the condition of the wall paintings, monastery objects and movable artistic materials was continued;
• At the Church of the Holy Virgin of Ljeviša in Prizren, no new conservation work was conducted in 2019 but in 2020, the lead cover on the damaged parts of the roof cover was replaced, the wooden structure of the bell tower was rehabilitated, the lower zones of the façade were repaired and cleaned, and the fence stone wall was repaired including replacement of its tiles. In November 2020, the Serbian Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments finished a reconstruction project for the iconostasis in the Holy Virgin of Ljeviša church and is now awaiting approval from the World Heritage Centre to pursue with its implementation. The preparation of an inventory for documenting necessary future conservation interventions in the walls due to capillary moisture resulted from the 2004 March fire is still ongoing. On 10 November 2020, the State Party submitted information about the establishment of an altar screen in the Church of the Holy Virgin of Ljeviša for review by the Advisory Bodies. On 2 February 2021, the World Heritage Centre has transmitted the preliminary ICOMOS technical review on the information received which advised to submit additional information for a comprehensive evaluation of the state of conservation of this component and provide the documentation of the in-situ research, detailed plans, a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) as well as relevant policies in relation to the management plan of this property;
• At the Gračanica Monastery, monitoring was conducted for the buildings in the monastery, wall paintings in the main church and mobile church mobiliary with no adverse impact to the overall conservation of the Monastery was detected;
• The World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Venice (Italy) and its Antenna Office in Sarajevo continues to closely monitor the situation, on all four elements of the property, through the regular exchange of information with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK);
• Due to the complex regional security instability, KFOR remains continuously present at the Dečani Monastery to establish a secure environment in the area and to avoid further endangerment of the site. The Patriarchate of Peć Monastery, Church of the Holy Virgin of Ljeviša and Gračanica Monastery are also secured by local police forces daily.