Sirinić or Siriniq ( sr-Cyrl, Сиринић, ) is a term used for a historical region that covers , including all of the

Štrpce Štrpce (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Штрпце) or Shtërpcë ( sq-definite, Shtërpca) is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Ferizaj, Ferizaj District in Kosov ...

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 borders of which it mostly overlaps. In the past it functioned as the Sirinićka

Župa A župa, or zhupa, is a historical type of administrative division in Southeast Europe and Central Europe, that originated in medieval South Slavic culture, commonly translated as "county" or "parish". It was mentioned for the first time in the e ...

(community of villages, a county) of

Medieval Serbia The medieval period in the history of Serbia began in the 6th century with the Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe, and lasted until the Ottoman Serbia, Ottoman conquest of Serbian lands in the second half of the 15th century. The period i ...

. The region is inhabited mostly by ethnic Serbs, who, as a result of isolation, have maintained archaic folk customs,

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

Geography

It is situated in the northeastern part of the Šar Mountains, and in the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the

Lepenac The Lepenac (; ; , ) is a river in southern Kosovo and northern North Macedonia, a long left tributary to the Vardar river. Course Kosovo The Lepenac springs out on the Oshlak mountain, east of the city of Prizren, at an altitude of . It ...

river. The highest peak is above sea level.

History

Sirinić was first mentioned in a charter of the 13th century, the second time in 1331, in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

of Emperor Stephen Dušan. At that time, it covered the whole of modern Štrpce municipality, having two cities, Gradište (in Brezovica) and Zidinac (in Gotovuša). Several remains of Byzantine forts exist in the region.In the charter of Emperor Dušan, Sevce is mentioned as ''Selce'' (Селце), a village which was 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 Monastery of St. Peter Koriški, submitted by the Emperor's nobleman Tošoje, as part of his heritage.Istorijski glasnik: organ Društva istoričara SR Srbije
Društvo istoričara SR Srbije, Društvo, 1989, p. 51Annuaire 1948, p. 118 Other toponyms in this region mentioned in the charter are: Blatinišica,

, Piljev potok, Borov vrh, Katunište and Ostrovica. In Brezovica, at the top of the Čajlije hill, above the mouth of the Piljevac creek of the Lepenac river, there exists the remains of the Gradište fort, which has two layers, the first from the 6th century, and the second from the 13th century.SANU, National Center for Digitization
Cultural Monuments in Serbia: Ostaci tvrđave Gradište-Čajlije
/ref> The fort is in ruins, of which a donjon tower, and outlines of other buildings, can be identified. The entrance to the city, at the north, was protected by a tower. From that tower, a rampart continued, with another tower, from where a defensive wall stretched to the foot of the hill, towards the Lepenac. Gotovuša is mentioned for the first time in an Ottoman ''

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

'' (tax register) of 1455, as a great village with 64 houses, and an

Orthodox priest Presbyter is, in the Bible, a synonym for ''bishop'' (''episkopos''), referring to a leader in local church congregations. In modern Eastern Orthodox usage, it is distinct from ''bishop'' and synonymous with priest. Its literal meaning in Greek ...

. The Church of Saint Nicholas was built here in the mid-16th-century, and is currently under protection of the

Republic of Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

as part of the

Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance Immovable Cultural Heritage of Exceptional Importance (/) are those objects of Immovable Cultural Heritage of Serbia, cultural heritage that enjoy the highest level of state protection in the Republic of Serbia. Immovable Cultural Heritage is classi ...

( Cultural Heritage of Serbia-list, SK 1422), in the '' Churches of Sirinićka župa''-group.SANU, National Center for Digitization
Cultural Monuments in Serbia: Crkva Sv. Nikole
/ref>Šuput 1991, p. 59 The second church in Gotovuša is dedicated to the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos (Uspenja Presvete Bogorodice), built in 1557.SANU, National Center for Digitization
Cultural Monuments in Serbia: Crkva Sv. Bogorodice
/ref> Above the village, near the old fort of Zidinac, there are remains of several older churches. The village of Berevce has two cathedrals of the 16th century: the Church of Parascheva, and the Church of St. Demetrius.Dimitrije M. Kalezić, Enciklopedija pravoslavlja, Book 1, Savremena administracija, 2002, p. 166 The Church of Parascheva is in good shape, it was renovated in 1960s when a new bell was built. In the 13th century, the church was a notable literary center in which noted

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

Ravul wrote in; his manuscripts today exist in museums of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Geography

History

References

Further reading