Velika Hoča ( sr-Cyrl, Велика Хоча, sq, Hoçë e Madhe) is a village in the municipality of

Rahovec Rahovec ( sq-definite, Rahoveci) or Orahovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Ораховац) is a town and municipality located in the District of Prizren in western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Rahovec has 15,892 inhabitants, while th ...

, in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. It is one of the Serb enclaves in Kosovo, and houses some 13 Orthodox church buildings, most of which date to the Serbian Middle Ages. Velika Hoča is situated in the historical region of

Metohija Metohija ( sr-Cyrl, Метохија, ) or Dukagjin ( sq, Rrafshi i Dukagjinit, ) is a large basin and the name of the region covering the southwestern part of Kosovo. The region covers 35% (3,891 km2) of Kosovo's total area. According ...

(Dukagjin) and is one of the oldest settlements. It was given as ''

metochion A ''metochion'' or ''metochi'' ( gr, μετόχιον, metóchion or gr, μετόχι, metóchi; russian: подворье, podvorie) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or ...

'' by

Stefan Nemanja Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nemanji ...

Hilandar The Hilandar Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Хиландар, Manastir Hilandar, , el, Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It wa ...

in 1198–99 (''

Charter of Hilandar Charter of Hilandar ( sr, Хиландарска повеља) is the founding charter of the Hilandar monastery, the cradle of the Serbian Orthodox Church and main endowment of Stefan Nemanja and Saint Sava. It was written in 1198, while the seco ...

''). In the Middle Ages, Velika Hoča was a strong economical and spiritual centre with 24 churches and three monasteries. 8 monasteries and five ruins have been preserved from that period. The Dečani wine is made from vineyards in Velika Hoča since at least the reign of Emperor

Stefan Dušan Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан, ), known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr, / ; circa 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Tsar (or Emperor) and autocrat of the Serbs, Gr ...

(r. 1331-1355).

Demographics

Agriculture

The main economic activity of Velika Hoča is

viniculture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ra ...

Culture

Velika Hoča is a significant cultural centre of Serbs in Kosovo. The village is noted for its 13 churches, some dating from the 12th century and reign of Serbian Grand Prince

, others from the 14th to 16th centuries. There are also several

tower houses A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

, one that belonged to

Lazar Kujundžić Lazar Kujundžić-Klempa ( sr-cyr, Лазар Кујунџић: 1880 – May 25, 1905) was a Serbian Chetnik commander (vojvoda) who was active in Old Serbia and Macedonia. Biography He was born in Orahovac, near Prizren. He graduated fro ...

Annotations

References

External links