Architectural Heritage in Kosovo: A Post-War Report

This article addresses the damage to the rich cultural heritage of Kosovo during the war between Serbian and NATO forces between 1998-1999 when thousands of the region's Albanian inhabitants were killed or driven from their homes. Andrew Herscher and András J. Riedlmayer established the Kosovo Cultural Heritage Project (KHCP) to document the damage to heritage sites to assist the investigations of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and to prepare materials for the restoration of damaged sites. The team traveled to Kosovo in October 1999 to conduct a field survey, supported by a grant from the Packard Humanities Institute. The survey found that a third of Islamic houses of worship in Kosovo were damaged or destroyed, while only ten percent of the region's historic houses (kullas) had survived the war. Other heritage sites, such as madrasas, takiyyas, baths and libraries were also found damaged. The evidence collected by the surveyors discredits the view that this damage was caused by NATO bombing. While Serbian Orthodox sites have not suffered any damage during the war, many medieval churches and monasteries in Kosovo became targets of revenge attacks by Albanians after the war. The report calls for the urgent need for heritage conservation and protection in Kosovo.

See ArchNet Collection: Kosovo Cultural Heritage

Herscher, Andrew, András Riedlmayer. 2000. Architectural Heritage in Kosovo: A Post-War Report. First published in US/ICOMOS Newsletter 4 (July-August 2000).

Andrew Herscher and András J. Riedlmayer