Banja (Banje; sr-Cyrl, Бања, Бање, or ''Baja''), or Banja Rudnička ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Рудничка), is a settlement in the

Skenderaj Skenderaj ( sq-definite, Skënderaji) or Srbica ( sr-Cyrl, Србица) is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Mitrovica, Mitrovica District of Kosovo. According to the 2021 cens ...

municipality in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. The rural settlement lies on a cadastral area with the same name, of 1033 hectares. The village has an Albanian majority.

Geography

Banja is located circa 2 km from

Runik Runik () is a village in the Skenderaj municipality of Kosovo. It is located in the Drenica region and has 1,585 inhabitants as of 2011. The village has a football club, KF Përparimi Runik. Runik is the site of an important Neolithic settlement ...

, on the Pejë–Mitrovica road.

History

Banja was mentioned for the first time in a charter of

Serbian King This is an wiktionary:archontology, archontological list of Serbs, Serbian monarchs, containing Monarch, monarchs of the Serbia in the Middle Ages, medieval principalities, to heads of state of modern Serbia. The :Serbian monarchy, Serbian mona ...

Stefan Uroš I Stefan Uroš I ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош I; 1223 – 1 May 1277), known as Uroš the Great () was the King of Serbia from 1243 to 1276, succeeding his brother Stefan Vladislav. He was one of the most important rulers in Serbian history ...

(r. 1243–1276), dating to the mid-13th century, granted (''

metochion A ''metochion'' or ''metochi'' ( or ; ) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or autonomous church to another. The term is also used to refer to a parish representation (or ...

'') to the

Gračanica monastery Gračanica () may refer to: Places Bosnia and Herzegovina * Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a town and municipality in Tuzla * Gračanica (Bugojno), a village in Central Bosnia * Gračanica, Gacko, a village in Republika Srpska * Gračanica, ...

. It was then granted by King

Stefan Milutin Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 1253 – 29 October 1321), known as Saint King, was the King of Serbia between 1282–1321, a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. He was one ...

(r. 1282–1321) to the

Banjska Monastery The Banjska Monastery (; , ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery in the Banjska (village), Banjska village near Zvečan, Kosovo. The monastery was the site of Banjska attack, an attack carried by Serb Militant, militants against Kosovo Police on 24 ...

. The village church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, as founded by nobleman Rodop who served Serbian Despot

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Vuković Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Вуковић Бранковић, ; 1377 – 24 December 1456) served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia. In 1429, Branković was form ...

(r. 1427–1456), and was buried here in 1436. Two bells found in its ruins are preserved in the

Patriarchal Monastery of Peć Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

and National Museum in Belgrade. Between 1936 and 1941 the church was renovated, but destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by Albanians. The village was among those in North Kosovo that was burned down by Albanian paramilitaries and the Serb population expelled. In 1971 the church was reconstructed. The church was used as a model for an Orthodox church in Norway. On the night of 21 May 1998 a large number of Albanian

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Republic of Serbia (1992–2006), Republic of R ...

members of

Drenica Drenica (, ), also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Klina, Zubin Potok, Mitr ...

attacked the villages of Banja and Suvo Grlo (which are inhabited by Serbs) and a military station in Rudnik, above Skenderaj. Serbs and Serbian police answered the fire, no deaths or injuries were reported by them.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Skenderaj Villages in Skenderaj Medieval Serbian sites in Kosovo