Prizren accounts for the largest concentration of monuments in the Reconstruction Implementation Commission (RIC) programme: the RIC home page lists eight Prizren sites, whereas the numbered catalogue contains nine entries (#01, #02, #04, #05, #06, #07, #12, #14, and #16) because the Episcopal Residence (#14) is assigned its own catalogue number while linking directly to the file for the Episcopal Church of St George (#04). Because Prizren includes two churches dedicated to St George, shared multi-site contracts, and a division of responsibilities between the RIC and the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR), clear demarcation of these records is essential.
Why the RIC home page lists eight Prizren sites while the catalogue numbers nine entries
Researchers comparing the archived and pages from May 2009 immediately encounter a numerical difference in Prizren. Under the heading Prizren, the RIC home page lists eight sites: the Church of the Holy Virgin Ljeviška, the Episcopal Church of Saint George, the Church of Saint Nicholas (Tutić), the Old Church of Saint George (Runović), the Serbian Orthodox Seminary of Sts Cyrillus and Methodius, the Church of Saint Kyriake, the Holy Archangels Monastery, and the Church of St Savior.
In the numbered catalogue, however, a ninth Prizren entry appears at number 14: EPISCOPAL RESIDENCE Prizren (VLADIČANSKI DVOR u Prizrenu). Inspection of the original 2009 HTML source reveals that entry #14 never had a standalone dossier file; in both English and Serbian, its hyperlink pointed directly to (#04, the Episcopal Church of St George). Meanwhile records that €2 million was committed by the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) to manage and complete reconstruction works at two RIC priority complexes in Prizren—the Orthodox Seminary (#12) and the Episcopal Residence (#14)—outside the RIC’s standard MCYS tendering budget.
| Cat. No. & Source File | Monument Name and Date | Documented Damage (March 2004 / Thefts) | Lead Agency & Key Contracts (2005–2008) | Status under 2009 Programmed Works |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #01 | Church of the Holy Virgin Ljeviška (14th c. over 11th c. basilica) | Severe fire, belfry biforium endangered, frescoes covered in soot, Virgin Eleousa hammered; lead roof stolen in 2005. | RIC: biforium & temporary cover (2005); 3 lead-roof phases, masonry consolidation, narthex gallery & auxiliary building (2006–2008). | Priest's house reconstruction, wall paintings conservation, UNESCO programme. |
| #02 | Holy Archangels Monastery (14th c. ruins; 1990s konak & workshop) | 1990s monastery building and workshop burned down; 14th c. archaeological remains undamaged. | No RIC interventions in 2005–2008 (No consensus reached). | Guest house reconstruction & archaeological assessment subject to consensus. |
| #04 | Episcopal Church of St George (2nd half of 19th c., three-aisled basilica) | Burned down, roof, dome, and bell tower collapsed, interior and iconostasis destroyed. | RIC: scaffolding (2005); steel pillars, new stone vaults, dome, belfry, lead roof, parish house & internal repairs (06-002, 07-015, 07-020). | Landscape & drainage design, new iconostasis, archaeological assessment. |
| #05 | Church of St Nicholas — Tutić's Church (14th c. domed chapel) | Lead roof removed, stonework hammered, interior burned, marble floor and frescoes damaged. | RIC: new lead roof, joinery, iron fence (2005, Group 8); internal repairs and electrical installation (2007, contract 07-020). | Wall paintings restoration. |
| #06 | Church of Saint Saviour (14th c. domed church + 19th c. unfinished walls) | Fire in 14th c. church damaging frescoes; smoke, unstable upper wall tops and belfry in 19th c. part. | RIC: clearance, repair of wall tops, doors, fence, and metallic roof to belfry (2005, Group 9); no works 2006–2008. | UNESCO programme. |
| #07 | Old Church of St George — Runović's Church (14th–16th c., in complex of #04) | Interior damaged by explosion and fire, cracks, frescoes affected, tomb desecrated; lead roof stolen in 2005 and again in 2006. | RIC: lead re-roofing & protection (2005, Group 8); restoration works, lead roof & joinery (2006, 06-008); archaeological strategy (2007). | Specialist floor leveling, wall paintings restoration, archaeological assessment. |
| #12serbian_orthodox_seminary_...html | Orthodox Seminary of Sts Cyrillus and Methodius (19th c. Uncle Sima's + 1990s buildings) | 19th c. Uncle Sima's building and three later buildings burned and collapsed in March 2004. | EAR (2005–2007): reconstruction of Uncle Sima's building; RIC (2007, 07-011): roof and works at Dormitory & Dean's building. | Reconstruction of the dean's and dormitory buildings. |
| #14 (links to ) | Episcopal Residence, Prizren | Burned and severely damaged in March 2004. | EAR: funded and managed under the €2M EAR package for two Prizren priority sites. | No separate HTML sheet; shares catalogue link with #04. |
| #16 | Church of St Kyriake / Sv. Nedelja (1960s over 14th c. remains) | Interior burned, wall paintings damaged by fire and soot, exterior in good condition. | RIC: lead roof repair, oak doors, altar pillar & fence (2005, Group 9); new lead roof (07-010) & internal repairs (07-020) in 2007. | Wall paintings restoration. |
Distinguishing homonymous monuments: the two churches of St George (#04 and #07) and two entries for St Kyriake (#16 and #34)
Two naming overlaps require special care when citing Prizren reconstruction records. The first concerns the two churches dedicated to St George located within the same courtyard complex in central Prizren: the Episcopal Church of St George (#04), a large-scale three-aisled basilica with a dome and western belfry built in the second half of the 19th century, and the Old Church of St George — Runović’s Church (#07), a small single-aisled barrel-vaulted church from the 14th–16th centuries containing medieval wall paintings. Whereas the 19th-century Cathedral (#04) suffered the complete collapse of its roof, dome, and bell tower in March 2004—requiring steel pillars and newly constructed stone vaults and dome under contract 43000-06-002-5-1-1—the adjacent Runović’s Church (#07) underwent delicate architectural restoration under contract 43000-06-008-5-2-1, suffered repeated thefts of its lead roof in both 2005 and 2006, and was the subject of a 12 October 2006 RIC press release regarding archaeological finds.
The second distinction involves churches dedicated to St Kyriake (known in Serbian as Sveta Nedelja): entry #16 is the Church of St Kyriake in Prizren (built in the 1960s over 14th-century foundations in the Potkaljaja quarter), whereas entry #34 is the Church of St Kyriake in Brnjača/Bërnjak in Orahovac/Rahovec municipality, where the church itself was undamaged in March 2004 and RIC works focused on the burned guest house.
Multi-site Prizren contracts (2005 and 2007) and institutional division of labour with the EAR
The RIC tender records show that smaller urban churches in Prizren were frequently grouped into combined procurement packages. In the 2005 emergency protective phase, Prizren monuments were organised into four tender groups: Group 4 (Episcopal Church of St George), Group 6 (Holy Virgin Ljeviška), Group 8 (combining Tutić’s Church of St Nicholas and Runović’s Old Church of St George), and Group 9 (combining the Church of St Saviour and the Church of St Kyriake).
A similar bundling strategy was used in 2007. After an initial tender for internal repairs in Tutić’s Church and St Kyriake (43000-07-014-5-2-1) was cancelled, the RIC issued and completed a three-site contract (43000-07-020-5-2-1: Internal repairs in the Episcopal Church of Saint George, Saint Nicholas (Tutic’s) and Saint Kyriake), whose completion was reported in the April 2009 update. Meanwhile, at the Orthodox Seminary of Sts Cyrillus and Methodius (#12), the dossier documents a division of responsibilities by building: the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) funded and implemented the reconstruction of the 19th-century Uncle Sima’s Building (Zadužbina Sime Igumanova) between 2005 and 2007, while the RIC tendered contract 43000-07-011-5-2-1 in 2007 to reconstruct the roofs of the Seminary’s Dormitory and Dean’s Building.
Documented case study from RIC records: why Holy Archangels Monastery (#02) had no RIC works in 2005–2008
The dossier for the Holy Archangels Monastery near Prizren (#02) stands out among the Prizren entries in the 2009 RIC corpus. The site comprises a legally protected 14th-century archaeological complex (ruins of Tsar Dušan’s main church, a parecclesion, and a refectory, later used as a stone quarry for the Sinan Pasha Mosque in the 15th century) alongside a new monastic building and workshop constructed during the 1990s. The 2004 Damage Assessment notes that the 1990s monastery building and workshop were completely burned down in March 2004 while the medieval archaeological site was undamaged, and adds that a new konak was built by the Church over the site of the old workshop during 2004 after the March riots. Under 2005 - Protective Interventions, the dossier records No interventions carried out. No consensus reached, followed by No interventions carried out for 2006, 2007, and 2008, while listing Reconstruction of the guest house subject to consensus and Archaeological assessment subject to consensus under 2009 programmed interventions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the RIC home page list eight Prizren sites while the catalogue numbers nine?
The numbered catalogue assigns a separate line (#14) to the Episcopal Residence in Prizren, but links it directly to the HTML file for the Episcopal Church of St George (#04), whereas lists the eight ecclesiastical complexes.
What is the difference between the two churches of St George in Prizren (#04 and #07)?
Entry #04 is the Episcopal Church (Cathedral) of St George built in the second half of the 19th century, while entry #07 is the Old Church of St George (Runović’s Church), a small 14th–16th century barrel-vaulted church with medieval frescoes standing inside the Cathedral complex.
Which Prizren complexes were reconstructed by the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR)?
The EAR committed €2 million to manage the reconstruction of the Episcopal Residence (#14) and the 19th-century Uncle Sima's Building within the Orthodox Seminary of Sts Cyrillus and Methodius (#12), while the RIC tendered works on the Seminary's Dormitory and Dean's Building in 2007.
Which Prizren churches were covered by shared contract 43000-07-020-5-2-1?
Contract 43000-07-020-5-2-1, reported as completed in the April 2009 update, covered internal repairs across three Prizren churches: the Episcopal Church of St George (#04), Tutić’s Church of St Nicholas (#05), and the Church of St Kyriake (#16).
Sources and Further Reading
- Report Submitted by UNMIK Pursuant to Article 2.2 of the Agreement Between UNMIK and the Council of Europe Related to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ACFC/SR/II(2009)002) — Council of Europe / UNMIK (31. maj 2010.) · Source document ↗
- Medieval Monuments in Kosovo (UNESCO World Heritage List Ref. 724bis) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2004 / 2006) · Source document ↗
- RIC Archival Page: The Background / Uvod — Reconstruction Implementation Commission (RIC) — archival snapshot (17. maj 2009.)
- RIC Archival Site Dossiers (/inc/{eng,srp}/sites/*.html, May–July 2009) — Reconstruction Implementation Commission (RIC) — archival snapshots (17. maj 2009. / 28. jul 2009.)
- RIC Archival Page: Current Activities / Trenutne aktivnosti — Reconstruction Implementation Commission (RIC) — archival snapshot (april 2009.)
