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 Ljeviša;
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 Ljeviša, 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 Peć to include more of its riverside-valley settings);
4. Prepare detailed state of conservation reports as a basis for adapted monitoring, preventive 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 Kosovo³*;
• 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.

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.

At its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021), the World Heritage Committee decided to adjourn the debate on the state of conservation of the property (Decision 44 COM 7A.33) until its next ordinary session. The state of conservation report submitted to the World Heritage Committee at its extended 44th session is available on the World Heritage Centre’s website at the following page: https://whc.unesco.org/en/soc/4033.

The Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to UNESCO submitted to the World Heritage Centre a state of conservation report and additional information on the state of conservation on 27 January 2022 and 1 February 2023 respectively. The information is available on the World Heritage Centre’s website at the following page: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/724/documents/

The reported information outlines the following:

• The four monuments that comprise the property face ongoing security issues, and their vulnerability were exacerbated by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic;
• On 5 January 2022, a new Law on Cultural Heritage entered into force, giving particular attention to the preservation and protection of UNESCO World Heritage properties;
• In 2021, no conservation intervention was undertaken at the Dečani Monastery. In 2022, conservation and restoration works were carried out on the wall paintings on the altar of the Dečani Church and included salt extraction. Although plans to construct a main road Dečani-Plav in the vicinity of the Visoki Dečani Monastery Special Protected Zone (SPZ) were suspended in 2020, the area has not yet been restored to its original state. The monastery is secured by Kosovo Stabilisation Force (KFOR); the access road is fenced off by barriers set up by the KFOR. The Republic of Serbia, through the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, is providing legal assistance to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Future for Religious Heritage, a European network for historic places of worship and member of the European Heritage Alliance, has included the Dečani Monastery in the ‘7 Most Endangered Programme’ 2021;
• At the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery, roof reparations were carried out from May to October 2021 and from August to October 2022 on the Saint Apostle church. Due to the damaged lead cladding, humidity had penetrated the fabric of the church, impacting the state of conservation of the wall paintings. The lead cladding was replaced in the nave and on the north and south sides of the bays, and a new gutter was installed. Furthermore, tourist infrastructure has been put in place, including a water fountain and a bilingual information board at the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery;
• At the Church of the Holy Virgin of Ljeviša in Prizren, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments continues to maintain the state of conservation of the church and the church gate. No conservation works were carried out in 2022. In addition, the Institute foresees the installation of lighting in the altar partition, for which the approval of the World Heritage Centre will be sought. The conservation and restoration work on the wall paintings was developed following research undertaken in 2021, which included physicochemical analysis of the coloured layers using optical microscopy, electron microscopy and spectroscopy. Additional information was provided to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies regarding the proposal for a new iconostasis. In its Technical Review, ICOMOS accepted the plans for the new iconostasis and agreed with the principle of minimal encroachment on the architecture, as well as the clear distinction of the new additions within the medieval church and the schematisation of the form without direct associations or indications of closer stylistic determination. Between the end of May to September 2021, a building was constructed on the allotment next to the church, within the buffer zone of the property;
• At the Gračanica Monastery, no conservation works were undertaken in 2021 and 2022. A bilingual publication Gračanica, Chronicle of the Painting and Conservation Works 2010-2018 by Miroslav Stanojlović presenting the restoration and conservation works on the wall paintings was published in 2021 thanks to funding of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Serbia. An exhibition ‘Gračanica, the splendour of art in the era of King Milutin’ (Belgrade, December 2022 – February 2023) presented the church’s historical and artistic values and the process of its conservation. The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments monitors the state of conservation of the Gračanica Monastery;
• In June 2021, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade organised a conference entitled ‘Protection, Preservation and Affirmation of the Serbian Cultural Heritage in Kosovo and Metohija’ aimed at defining and analysing the state of Serbian tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. The proceedings of the conference were under preparation at the time of submission of the 2022 report;
• The property, its churches and monasteries remain in an overall less-than-ideal condition and challenges remain with respect to unhindered access for associated communities;
• 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, the Church of the Holy Virgin of Ljeviša and Gračanica Monastery are also secured daily by local police forces.