Visoki Decani monastery receive threats of destruction
Archimandrite Sava Janjic, abbot of Visoki Decani monastery in western Kosovo, said Saturday that an unidentified men has threatened that he will destroy the medieval Serbian monastery in the next few days, adding that the Kosovo police, KFOR and international representatives in Kosovo have been notified about the latest threats.
(kosovocompromisestuff) Sunday, April 27, 2014
Janjic told the press that the Kosovo Police told the monastery that an unidentified man presenting himself as a KLA commander called a local TV station and said he is preparing an attack on the monastery in the next two days, and that a camera should be ready to film the destruction of Visoki Decani.“The police immediately took all necessary measures, and I contacted several representatives of the Kosovo police, including Deputy Police Minister Sasa Rasic, and I received an invitation to meet with the commander of KFOR and ambasadors of several Western countries’ embassies in Kosovo, who expressed solidarity and support,” Janjic said.He pointed out that the leader Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramus Haradinaj, also condemned the threats and said that he will do everything possible to help find those making threats to destroy Visoki Decani monastery.“We hope that all measures will be taken to discover who is behind the threats, but also to tighten security around the monastery, which obviously is still under security risks,” the abbot of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) monastery said.He pointed out that four armed attacks on Visoki Decani have taken place in recent years, and it is the only SPC facility in the province still under the KFOR protection.A few days ago unknown persons wrote graffiti reading ‘UCK’ on one of the monastery’s gates. UCK is short in Albanian for the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, an ethnic Albanians’ former paramilitary organization in Kosovo.The monastery was built by Serbian King Stefan Uros III Decanski and his son, Emperor Stefan Uros IV Dusan. The monastery was completed in 1335, and its frescoes were finished around 1350.UNESCO put the monastery on its World Heritage List in 2004, citing its frescoes as “one of the most valued examples of the so-called Palaeologan renaissance in Byzantine painting” and "a valuable record of the life in the 14th century."In 2006, it was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the potential for attacks by ethnic-Albanians.
