@article{
author = "Nikolić, Marko and Vukotić-Lazar, Marta and Roter-Blagojević, Mirjana",
year = "2019",
abstract = "The Republic of Serbia has one inscribed ancient and four medieval sites on the UNESCO
World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee placed the church of the Holy Virgin of Ljeviška in Prizren and the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery, Dečani Monastery and
Gračanica Monastery on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2006 due to difficulties in
their preservation and management, as well as for the damage they suffered during ethnic conflicts. Pursuant to the UN resolution 1244, they are currently in the territory under
the control of United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The Committee recommended
Serbia to work with UNESCO and UNMIK programmes and with the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Kosovo for the purpose of protection of this World Heritage
site. However, in addition to these monuments, there are over 1500 holy places (monasteries, churches, cemeteries) in Kosovo and Metohija, which testify to the century-long
presence of the Serbian people and Orthodox religion. Over the course of the history,
they suffered multiple times as a consequence of wars and political turmoil, which has
been confirmed by international missions (UNESCO and the Council of Europe). With
the aim of preserving and protecting the monasteries, the need for the establishment of
protection zones was emphasized, which was specifically presented in provision V of the
Ahtisaari Plan for religious heritage. Due to its inclusion into the international system of
protection and monitoring and by means of WHS, in the immediate future, it is necessary
to restart the talks on how this cultural heritage could be understood as a key element
in establishing better cultural relations between Serbian and Albanian people. Through
their adequate preservation, improvement and management, within world heritage, they
become sites of significance for interpretation and presentation of cultural diversity, promotion of local and regional values, studies and education of the young, interethnic and
intercultural dialogue etc. In this sense, the paper examines the possibilities of improvement of the current state of their protection and presentation by way of integration of
international, national and local protection, understanding this area as a specific cultural
landscape.",
publisher = "Fondazione Romualdo Del Bianco (FRDB) and Istituto Internazionale Life Beyond Tourism (IILBT)",
journal = "Proceedings of the International Symposium Heritage as a Builder of Place, The 21th General Assembly of the International Experts of the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation, Florence (Italy), March, 1-3, 2019",
title = "World cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija as a stability and peace factor in the region",
volume = "2",
pages = "351-360",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_raf_1135"
}