Peja

Peć is a city in north-western Kosovo, a Serbian province under UN administration. It had a population of 81,800 as of 2003.

The city is known as Pejë or Peja in Albanian and as Peć (Пећ) in Serbian. Other names of the city include the Latin Pescium and Siparantum, the Turkish Ipek or İpek, and the formerly used form Pentza.

History

The city was probably founded by the Illyrians. It is located in a strategic position on the Pećka Bistrica river, a tributary of the White Drin to the east of the Cursed Mountains. The city was known as Pescium during the Roman era; or as reported by Ptolemy in his Geography, Siparantum.

The town became a major religious centre of medieval Serbia under the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan, who made it the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1346. It retained this status until 1766, when the Patriarchate of Peć was abolished. The town and its surrounding area are still revered by adherents of Serbian Orthodoxy; the town is the site of the patriarchal monastery, which stands above the town and consists of four fresco-decorated churches, a library, and a treasury. The 14th century Visoki Dečani monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies about 19 km south, in nearby Dečani.

Peć was captured by the Ottomans in the late 14th century, and underwent major changes under their rule, including a change of name to Ipek. The town was settled by a large number of Turks, many of whose descendants still live in the area, and took on a distinctly oriental character with narrow streets and old-style Turkish houses. It also gained an Islamic character with the construction of a number of mosques, many of which still survive. One of these is the Bajrakli Mosque, built by the Ottomans in the 15th century and located in the center of the city.

The five centuries of Ottoman rule came to an end in the First Balkan War of 1912-1913, when Montenegro took control of the town. In the late 1915, during World War I, Austria-Hungary took the city. Peć was liberated in the October 1918. After World War I, the city became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Between 1929 and 1941 the city was part of Zeta Banovina. After World War II, Peć became part of Yugoslavia as part of the People's Republic of Serbia.

Relations between Serbs and Albanians, who were the majority population, were often tense during the 20th century. They came to a head in the Kosovo War of 1999, during which the city suffered heavy damage. It suffered further damage in violent inter-ethnic unrest in 2004.

Economy

The economy was inevitably badly affected by the war, but historically it has centered on agricultural activities and craftworks produced by the city's traditional craftsmen – coppersmiths, goldsmiths, slipper makers, leather tanners, saddle makers, etc.

Demographics

Ethnic Composition, Including IDPs
Year/Population	Albanians	%	Serbs	%	Roma	%	Egjypta	%	Boshnjak	%	Others	%	Total
Unreliable 1991-cens.	96,441	75.5	7,800	6	4,442	3.5					19,098	15	127,796
January 1999	104,600		950		3,500-4,000						4,000-4,200		113,000
Current figure	78,712	86.3	1,000	1.2	1,800	1.9	4,500	4.9	5000	5.4			91,112
Source:OSCE, IOM, Department for Inter-Community Affairs, CEO Sector for Territorial Communities, Mother Teresa Association, Istoria Srba; Konstatin Jireček It is noted that the 1991 census was highly politicised and is thus unreliable. Ref: OSCE [1]

See also

• Peja District

External links

• SOK Kosovo and its population
• - Official city website
• - Albanian Information - Peja