From the bus stop, it was about another 35 mins walk to the Desani Monastery. Yesterday's snow had resulted in beautiful landscapes out on this part where hardly tourists visits.
While walking, a snow removal truck was coming at a fast speed towards me, throwing lots of slush far out onto the pavement that I was walking on.
I happened to be walking past the visitor information centre, which had a wall that I could duck behind, and so I did.
It appears the truck also saw me and had slowed down to reduce the splash it would create, and was trying to see what I had disappeared to. As the truck passed by the wall and saw me peeking me head from the side, the driver and his colleague laughed. I laughed as well. They waved goodbye and I did the same and then continued on with my walk towards the monastery.
I was the only one walking throughout this whole time!
One of the key reasons for coming out here was because I got extremely intrigued reading about it online and how heavily guarded this church/monastery is. They are protected by KFOR, part of the NATO forces.
I went through one military check point, and then about a couple hundred metres later reached a 2nd military check point where I had to give my passport in exchanged for a badge to get in.
I was told no pictures inside the monastery by the military police, but I saw a few other people taking photos and videos and so I did the same. The church with the snow covered grounds made it even more unique and incredible.
Built in 14th century by then-King of Serbia. St. Stefan Uroš III, the external facade was built by alternating 2 different coloured bricks from 2 different cities.
In the inside it was incredible. It was covered up with frescoes across all the walls and ceilings.
A priest came and gave me a personal tour with history of the church and information about the frescoes.
At the time the frescoes were created, this was the only place where the entire history of Christianity is depicted in a single location.
The first room depicts the calendar of Christ and his Ascension. There's also a family tree of the King on one of the walls.
Inside the 2nd room. This is where they hold the mass, which is held daily. The frescoes here depict stories of saints and Bishops, Virgin Mary and the various miracles of Christ.
The King was later celebrated as a matyr and is now buried inside this coffin.
I asked the priest why is this monastery so heavily guarded. He mentioned that Albanians feel this is a reminder when they were invaded by Serbs, and as a result, there had been numerous attacks and damage to the church in the past. Some of the buildings around the church had been burnt down and then rebuilt, but the church had remained intact.
He later also gave me a pamphlet in English with a short write up about the history and information about the church. As I understand, there's about 25 priests that lives on the premises.
And then it's another 35 mins walk out again, this time I was chaperoned by 2 dogs that had followed / led me from the start of the 1st military checkpoint to the 2nd.
Grabbed a quick lunch nearby and then back to the bus stop where I had gotten off and waited for another bus heading towards Pejë which was about a 30mins bus ride.
The location to stop for Pejë was a bit more tricky, as the bus terminal was located a far distance from where I needed to go, and I had to continually map the route where the bus was moving on and decide on the place where it would be best to get off.
I decided to do a detour to the Pejë Bazaar, which was somewhat enroute to where I needed to go. This bazaar looked more interesting than the one in Gjakova in my opinion, as it is pedestrian only and made it more pleasureable to walk through.
I also did a quick walk through the city centre and saw some buildings with interesting architecture.
And then it was a walk along the river to get to the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery.
I struggled to look for this next monastery because Google maps says its further up the road but as I walked further up, I only kept seeing high walls with no access in.
I walked up and down along the walls a few times trying to see if I had missed an access point - there were security cameras on those walls, so whoever was viewing those cameras must be wondering why this crazy Asian girl is walking back and forth along the walls 😂
The ironic thing was that I was tired earlier and had sat on this bench before I started walking along the walls (because Google map says there was still a distance to walk). However the entry point was just behind this green booth on the left.
Funnily, when I finally found the entry, the guard inside this booth said he had actually came out of his station and tried shouting in my direction to get my attention, but I couldn't hear him. 😅
This monastery was also protected by KFOR, and I had to provide my passport here, though I got it back immediately.
This is probably the 2nd world's most protected monastery, after the one in Desani.
Unlike the last monastery which housed priests, this one houses nuns.
One of the Nuns saw my arrival and came out to specifically open the door to the building for me to see the inside.
I was the only one there the whole time, no other visitors at this church. No one said I couldn't take any pictures or videos, so I quickly took some.
The monastery church is unique in Serbian medieval architecture, with three churches connected as one whole, and a fourth one just located on the outer part of the building according to the below diagram, but I didn't get to see the 4th one.
Built in the 13th century, it became the residence of Serbian Archbishops. It was expanded during the 14th century, and in 1346, when the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was created, the Monastery became the seat of Serbian Patriarchs.
During medieval and early modern times it was also used as mausoleum of Serbian archbishops and patriarchs.
Since 2006, it is part of the "Medieval Monuments in Kosovo", a combined World Heritage Site along with the one in Desani and 2 other monuments of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
And then it was a long walk back to the bus stop back to Gjakova. It's funny how I got charged €1 for the bus from Gjakova to Desan, and then another €1 from Desan to Pejë, but the return trip direct from Pejë to Gjakova was €2.50. I would have thought it would be cheaper than 2 split trip.
Having only a small meal for lunch, I was starving by the time I got back into Gjakova and went back to the restaurant at Hotel Happy - afterall, why bother looking for another place for a meal when it was so good yesterday, and so cheap for eating within a Hotel Restaurant.
Ordered a fish this time. I did hope they had served the soup first and then the fish later, but they had brought all the food out at the same time.
Everything here plus 2 glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice was only €9.50. Unbelievable.
I was so stuffed, that dessert was no longer possible.
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