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 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.

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 45th session (Riyadh, 2023), the World Heritage Committee decided to adjourn the debate on the state of conservation of the property (Decision 45 COM 7A.57) until its next ordinary session. The state of conservation report submitted to the World Heritage Committee at its extended 45th session is available on the World Heritage Centre’s website at the following page: https://whc.unesco.org/en/soc/4315.

The Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to UNESCO submitted to the World Heritage Centre a state of conservation report on 30 January 2024. 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:

In 2023, the state of conservation of three of the four components of the property, namely the Dečani Monastery, the Patriarchate of Peć and the Gračanica Monastery, remained unchanged and their attributes were preserved. However, the state of conservation of the fourth component, the Church of Holy Virgin of Ljeviša in Prizren, is in danger due to the increasingly unstable political and security situation.

The property is managed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Republic of Serbia, implements its management plan for research, conservation and other related works according to the adopted annual programme. The work is carried out by experts from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. The Office for Kosovo and Metohija also provides legal and other types of assistance to the Serbian Orthodox Church to enhance its protection.

Regarding the Dečani Monastery, following the conservation work in 2022, regular monitoring of the state of conservation of the mural paintings was conducted in 2023. A small-scale research project on the restoration of the Parecclesion is being initiated. Inspection of the architectural sculptural elements of the building has revealed that their condition is unchanged. As reported last year, although the plans for the construction of a main road Dečani-Plav in the vicinity of the Dečani Monastery were suspended in 2020, the area has not yet been restored to its original state. The access road to the Monastery is secured by the Kosovo Force (KFOR) barricades. Despite the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the property of Dečani Monastery is reported to be subject to systematic desecration and illegal confiscation. The monastic community of the Dečani Monastery is unable to enjoy the ownership of 24 hectares of monastic property, despite the ruling of the highest legal authority of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government on the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija of 20 May 2016.

Following the conservation and restoration of the wall paintings in the Cathedral Church of the Gračanica Monastery, the regular inspection of the state of conservation of the wall paintings revealed that it had remained unchanged. The same applies to the architectural elements of the Church. The exhibition ‘Gračanica, the splendor of art in the era of King Milutin’ was accompanied by a bilingual catalogue in English and Serbian. In 2023, no changes were observed in the privately owned constructions in the buffer zone.

Inspection was carried out on the mural paintings of the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery Church. It was also established that the repair works of a part of the Church roof, which were undertaken in 2021 and 2022, contributed significantly to the protection and preservation of its architectural elements and mural paintings. Due to its remote location, the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery is not impacted by urban planning construction. The local police provides its physical protection.

Despite the availability of funds, none of the extensive works planned for the Church of Holy Virgin of Ljeviša in Prizren could be carried out in 2022 and 2023. The conservation and restoration work on the mural paintings was not carried out, and the 14th-century mural was covered with a layer of soot and grime as the result of mortar shelling and fire in the Church in 2004. The Church of Holy Virgin of Ljeviša in Prizren is impacted by a busy road running next to the church and by the threat of urban planning changes, including construction of privately owned residential buildings located in its immediate vicinity. The local police provides its physical protection, but the Church continues to be threatened by an unstable security situation.

The medieval heritage in the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija is the subject of numerous research works on its historical, architectural values and on art history through projects with academia and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which provide a high level of interpretation of the origin, history and value of the heritage. Access is provided to groups of experts and citizens who plan their visits to the property’s components in advance. Digital guides provide information on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. In 2023, a pilot project was initiated to set up digital information points in the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery. This project is planned to extend to all four components of the property.