Kosovo's bazaars, from the one still standing to the ones that were lost

Bazaars were the beating heart of Kosovo’s Ottoman towns, and today they tell two very different stories. One, Gjakova’s, is still standing more or less whole. The others were largely lost in the 20th century, and you walk them looking for what survived. Here’s which is which, going by the Ministry of Culture heritage database (DTK).

Gjakova, the one to see

Gjakova’s grand bazaar, the Çarshia e Madhe, dates from the 16th century and has had permanent protection since 19 February 1955. Its official record counts 525 significant buildings, explains that it brought together the town’s crafts, trade and administration, and says it’s known as the largest bazaar in south-eastern Europe. It’s built from local materials, stone, timber, mud brick, old tiles and lead.

At its centre, where the two main streets meet, stands the Hadum Mosque of 1585. Beside it, the 17th-century Haraqia Han was an inn for traders arriving with their animals, and the DTK notes that the traveller Ami Boué mentioned it in 1835 and that in 1838 another traveller described a great Gjakova inn with room for up to 100 guests. The clock tower, from the early 19th century, burned in 1912 and was rebuilt near its foundations by the Ministry of Culture for the centenary. For me it’s the best town walk in Kosovo.

Pristina, what’s left of the old bazaar

In Pristina, the DTK protects the Pristina old bazaar complex, with buildings from the 14th to 19th centuries. Its record quotes a 1662 account of a town that already had a covered trading area, the bazaar, a hammam, 11 hans and around 300 shops. The bazaar itself was demolished in the 1960s to build a new administrative district, and what remains are three mosques, the hammams, the clock tower and a few houses. Go knowing that, so you’re not hunting for a market that no longer exists.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Gjakova for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Prizren and Peja, bazaars in pieces

In Prizren, the DTK has no record for the bazaar as a whole. The Arasta, the shopping street that gave its name to a mosque of 1526-1538, was knocked down in the 20th century for flats and a bank, leaving only the minaret. The record for the Kukli Bey Mosque tells us that the Saraçhane quarter was home to the leatherworkers and the grain market, and at the foot of the fortress, on the left bank of the Lumbardhi, the Marash quarter keeps a plane tree more than 450 years old.

Peja has no bazaar record either, but the Bajrakli Mosque’s record places it at the centre of the former bazaar, on the site of the old open market, and Jashar Pasha’s kulla stands in its wider area. I cover it in Peja bazaar.

Walking them

No official source publishes shop or market hours, but these are open streets you can wander at any time. I’d give Gjakova a whole unhurried morning, coming in by the clock tower and leaving by the Hadum Mosque. Kosovo uses the euro, so change your pounds beforehand and keep a little cash in case a small shop doesn’t take cards.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Gjakova on GetYourGuide.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Gjakova for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.