Kaçanik ( sq-definite, Kaçaniku) or Kačanik ( sr-Cyrl, Качаник, ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

located in the Ferizaj District of southern

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 international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

. According to the 2011 census, the town of Kaçanik has 15,634 inhabitants, while the municipality has 33,409 inhabitants. The municipality covers an area of , including the town of Kaçanik and 31 villages. OSCEbr>Mission in Kosovo: Municipal profile of Kačanik
, April 2008. Retrieved on 23 October 2008.

Name

The founder of the town

Koxha Sinan Pasha Koca Sinan Pasha ( tr, Koca Sinan Paşa, "Sinan the Great"; c. 1506 - 3 April 1596) was an Albanian-born Ottoman Grand Vizier, military figure, and statesman. From 1580 until his death he served five times as Grand Vizier. In a Ragusan docume ...

called the town ''Kaçaniku.'' In 1660, Turkish writer and traveler Evliya Çelebi visited Kosovo and wrote that the town's name derived from the Turkish word ''kaçanlar'' in reference to a group of Albanian bandits that operated in

Üsküb Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

and used the region of Kaçanik as a hideout. As the Kaçanik area was used as a hideout for the Kachaks, Koca Sinan Pasha built the town fortress to keep out the Kachaks.

History

Early History

The region of Kaçanik was one of the pathways, which were employed during Central European (akin to the Lusatian culture) migrations in the southern Balkans between 1200 and 1150 BCE. Roman era monuments include an altar that dates to 158–9 CE and is dedicated to a deity named ''Andinus'' (''Deo Andino''). The name ''Andinus'' appears among the central Illyrian and Dalmatian names, but the worship of ''Andinus'' seems to have been a local cult of southwestern

Dardani The Dardani (; grc, Δαρδάνιοι, Δάρδανοι; la, Dardani) or Dardanians were a Paleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was named Dardania after their settlement there. They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their ...

as it doesn't appear in other parts of Illyria or the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

Middle Ages

Kaçanik was captured by the Ottomans in the 1420s. At that time Kaçanik was only a village registered by the Ottomans in 1455 defter as

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

. Kaçanik was founded by Koca Sinan Pasha, who erected a tower, the town

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

which exists even today, a public kitchen for the poor (''

imaret Imaret, sometimes also known as a ''darüzziyafe'', is one of a few names used to identify the public soup kitchens built throughout the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th centuries. These public kitchens were often part of a larger complex ...

''), a school near the mosque, two ''hane'' (inns similar to '' caravanserais''), one Turkish bath ('' hammam''), the town fortress and a few mills on the Lepenci river. Kaçanik became known administratively as a town by the end of the 16th century, and up to year 1891 it was a part of the Ottoman Sanjak of Üsküb, which again belonged to the Kosovo Vilayet of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

Modern

In 1878, Kaçanik was intended to become a part of the Principality of Bulgaria according to the Treaty of San Stefano, but per the Treaty of Berlin it was returned to the Ottomans. During the Albanian Revolt of 1910, the area of Kacanik was the battlefield between Ottoman and Albanian forces. After 1912 the town became part of the Kingdom of Serbia, and after 1918 part of

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(the first incarnation of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

). From 1929 to 1941 Kaçanik was part of the

Vardar Banovina The Vardar Banovina, or Vardar Banate ( mk, Вардарска бановина, Vardarska banovina; sr, Вардарска бановина, translit=Vardarska Banovina; al, Banovina e Vardarit, italics=no), was a province (banate) of the King ...

of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 191 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, from 1941 to 1945, the town became part of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. In 1990, after the suspension of Kosovo's autonomy, the members of the Kosovan assembly gathered in the town and adopted the ''Kaçanik Constitution'', based on which the Republic of Kosova was proclaimed in 1991. During the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

, Yugoslav forces including the army, police and paramilitary groups carried out operations in the town that led to high numbers of civilian casualties and mass flights of civilians from Kaçanik.

Demographics

According to the last official census done in 2011, the municipality of Kaçanik has 33,409 inhabitants. Based on the population estimates from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics in 2020, the municipality has 34,420 inhabitants. With the exception of eight

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

and 30 Bosniaks,Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE
Mission in Kosovo: Municipal profile of Đeneral Janković
, April 2008. Retrieved on 23 October 2008. the municipality is ethnically homogeneous Albanians in Kosovo, Albanian.

Economy

The municipality is known for the production of construction materials at several area companies. There are also many cultivated farmlands and areas suited for the development of farms, apiculture, arboriculture as well as various craftsman and artisans. The area is well suited for the development of winter and summer tourism. The downtown area is home to a bus station, a small radio station, the remains of a Turkish fort, several streets lined with shops, banks, several restaurants, and a weekly farmers market for produce, livestock and housewares. Kaçanik has an old tradition in private manufactures, especially when it comes to the production of calcareous stone, wood for construction purposes and other services and artisan skills.

Culture

Sport

Sports teams

KF Lepenci is the men's football club in the town and they play their home matches at Besnik Begunca Stadium. KFF Bazeli 2015 is the women's football club in the town and they play in the top level of the women's football league in Kosovo.

Notable people

Ag Apolloni Ag Apolloni (; born 13 June 1982) is an Albanian writer, poet, playwright, scholar and essayist. He is a professor at the University of Prishtina. His literary works are distinguished for their dramatic dimension, philosophical treatment and crit ...

, writer * Adem Salihaj, politician *

Arben Zharku Arben Zharku (born 2 February 1982 in Kaçanik, Kosovo) is a producer based in Amsterdam Netherlands. Former Director oKosovo Cinematography Centerand SKENA UP International Students Film and Theatre Festival in Pristina. He graduated from the Fac ...

, film producer *

Bajrush Mjaku Bajrush Sejdiu ''(Macedonian language, Macedonian Cyrillic: Бајруш Сејдиу)'' is a Republic of Macedonia, Macedonian criminal of Albanians, Albanian descent that was arrested in police action "Ash" in 2008. He was convicted and sentenc ...

, actor *

Bedri Hysa Bedri is a Turkish given name for males. Notable people with the name include: * Bedri Baykam (born 1957), Turkish artist * Bedri Omuri (born 1957), Albanian footballer *Bedri Pejani (1885–1946), Albanian politician *Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu B ...

, poet * Ben Apolloni, film director * Fadil Raka, linguist * Hebib Shehu, politician *

Jeton Neziraj Jeton Neziraj is a playwright from Kosovo. He was the Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Kosovo and now he is the Director of Qendra Multimedia, a cultural production company based in Pristina, Prishtina. Background Neziraj has written ...

, playwright *

Jetmir Topalli Jetmir Topalli (born 7 February 1998) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for TFF First League club Manisa, on loan from İstanbulspor, and the Kosovo national team. Club career Ballkani On 13 June 2018, Topalli s ...

, footballer *

Lul Raka Lul is a Shilluk village located on the western bank of the Nile river, approximately one and a half hours by boat north from the city of Malakal, in Upper Nile province in South Sudan. The Catholic Church established one of its first mission st ...

, doctor * Milazim Salijaj, politician *

Sabit Jaha Sabit is an Arabic masculine given name, meaning "firmly in place”, “stable”, “unshakable”, "dhilaman", from Thabit (ثابت). Notable people with the name include: * Zaid Bin Sabit (610-660), one of the closest companions of Muhammad ...

, publisher * Sali Bajra, politician * Shefqet Riza, scholar *

Triumf Riza Triumf Riza (7 May 1978 – 30 August 2007) was a police officer, and member of an elite protection unit with the fledgling Kosovo Police Service, who was killed in the line of duty during an ongoing clash with the Enver Sekiraqa gang, an Ethni ...

, police officer *

Veton Tusha Veton Tusha (born 29 December 2002) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Football Superleague of Kosovo club Ballkani. Club career Denizlispor On 15 January 2021, Tusha signed his first professional contract wi ...

, footballer *

Ylber Hysa Ylber Hysa was a member of the Assembly of Kosovo. He is a member of the Reformist Party ORA and a civil rights activist, and for many years was the director of Kosovo Action for Civic Initiatives (KACI), a Kosovo Albanian non-governmental organiz ...

, historian