Banja, Skenderaj

Coordinates: 42°48′51″N 20°40′21″E / 42.81417°N 20.67250°E / 42.81417; 20.67250
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Bajë
Village
Bajë is located in Kosovo
Bajë
Bajë
Location in Kosovo
Coordinates: 42°48′51″N 20°40′21″E / 42.81417°N 20.67250°E / 42.81417; 20.67250
Location Kosovo
DistrictMitrovicë
MunicipalitySkënderaj
Elevation
761 m (2,497 ft)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total340
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code+381 290
Car plates02

Banja (Banje; Serbian Cyrillic: Бања, Бање, Albanian: Bajë or Baja), or Banja Rudnička (Serbian Cyrillic: Бања Рудничка), is a settlement in the Skenderaj municipality in Kosovo. The rural settlement lies on a cadastral area with the same name, of 1033 hectares. The village has a Serbian majority; in the 1991 census, it had 274 inhabitants.

Geography[edit]

Banja is located circa 2 km from Rudnik, on the Peć–Kosovska Mitrovica road.[2]

History[edit]

Banje or Banja Rudnička is an Old Serbian settlement.[2] It is mentioned for the first time in a charter of Serbian King Stefan Uroš I (r. 1243–1276), dating to the mid-13th century, granted (metochion) to the Gračanica monastery.[2] It was then granted by King Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321) to the Banjska Monastery.[2] The village church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, as founded by nobleman Rodop who served Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković (r. 1427–1456), and was buried here in 1436.[3] Two bells found in its ruins are preserved in the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć and National Museum in Belgrade.[3] Between 1936–41 the church was renovated, but destroyed during World War II[3] by Albanian fascists.[4][5][6][need quotation to verify] The village was among those in North Kosovo that was burned down by Albanian paramilitaries and the Serb population expelled.[7] In 1971 the church was reconstructed.[3] The church was used as a model for an Orthodox church in Norway.[8]

On the night of 21 May 1998 a large number of Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army members of Drenica 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.[9]

Demographic history
Ethnic group 1948 1953 1961 1971 1981[10] 1991
Serbs 338
Albanians 32
Total[11] 552 595 636 513 371 274

References[edit]

  1. ^ 2011 Kosovo Census results
  2. ^ a b c d Kalezić 2002, p. 131.
  3. ^ a b c d Spomenici.
  4. ^ "Kosovo i Metohija, sećanje (IV) – Zoran Bogavac: Nečujna zvona; Dobrica Erić: Svi moji preci". NSPM.
  5. ^ "HRIŠĆANSKO NASLEĐE KOSMETA (1)". Glas Srspke.
  6. ^ "Православне светиње на Косову и Метохији". Kosmet.
  7. ^ Antonijević, Nenad (2009). Албански злочини над Србима на Косову и Метохији у Другом светском рату, документа (PDF). Muzej žrtava genocida. p. 40. ISBN 9788690632992.
  8. ^ "Hellige Trifon skita". Ortodoks.
  9. ^ "Dnevnik od 19. do 24. maja". Ilustrovana Politika (2054). 30 May 1998. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009.
  10. ^ 1981 Census, Kosovo Archived 2012-03-17 at the Wayback Machine (Preliminary)
  11. ^ "Kosovo censuses 1948-1991". Archived from the original on 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2012-02-17.

Sources[edit]