Kosovo's Ottoman gem — stone bridges, a fortress hilltop, and the Balkans' best baklava
Prizren is the most beautiful city in Kosovo and a strong contender for the most underrated old town in the Balkans — a compact medieval city bisected by the Bistrica river, lined with Ottoman bridges, hammams, mosques, and the ruins of a Byzantine-era fortress on the hill above. The cobblestone old bazaar (çarshia) is filled with gunsmiths, goldsmiths, and filigree jewellery workshops that have operated without interruption since the 15th century. Food is a satisfying Balkans-Ottoman mix: burek, flija (layered pancake baked in embers), and the city's legendary baklava dripping in honey and l…
Prizren was a major medieval Balkan city — the seat of the Serbian Nemanjić dynasty and the site where Tsar Dušan was crowned King of Serbia in 1331. It fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1455 and prospered as a regional trade centre for 450 years, accumulating the mosques, hamams, and hans that define its skyline today. The 1878 League of Prizren, signed in the city, was the first major Albanian political movement calling for a unified Albanian nation, making Prizren foundational to both Serbian and Albanian national histories simultaneously.