Gazimestan

Газиместан Gazimestani
Gazimestan monument
42°41′26″N 21°7′25″E / 42.69056°N 21.12361°E / 42.69056; 21.12361
Location	5 km (3.1 mi) from Pristina, Kosovo
Designer	Aleksandar Deroko
Type	memorial, tower
Material	stone
Height	25 m (82 ft)
Completion date	1953
Dedicated to	fallen Serbian soldiers at the Battle of Kosovo (1389)

Gazimestan (Serbian Cyrillic: Газиместан, Serbian pronunciation: [ɡaziměstaːn], Albanian: Gazimestani) is the name of a memorial site and monument commemorating the Battle of Kosovo (1389), situated about 6-7 kilometres southeast of the actual battlefield, known as the Kosovo field. The name is a portmanteau derived from Arabic word “ghazi”, meaning “muslim warrior” and Persian word “stan” meaning "place of". Gazimestan is reached from the Pristina–Mitrovica highway, on a 50-metre hill above the plain, ca. 5 km north-west from Pristina. Every year, on Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day), 28 June, a commemoration is held by the monument, which in later years is also covered by an image of Prince Lazar, who led an army comprised by Serbian people.

History

In 1989, on the 600th anniversary, Serbian president Slobodan Milošević held the famous controversial speech Gazimestan speech that can be considered as the starting point for disintegration of Yugoslavia.

In 1997 the site was declared a cultural heritage of Serbia.^[1]

Monument

The Gazimestan monument was designed by Aleksandar Deroko, in the shape of a medieval tower, and built in 1953 under the authority of FPR Yugoslavia, 556 years after the Battle of Kosovo.

• 
  Vidovdan 2009
• 
  Vidovdan 2013
• 
  Kosovo curse

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gazimestan.

• Kosovo Myth

References

Sources

• Marković, Dragan (1989). "SVEČANOSTI NA GAZIMESTANU O VIDOVDANU IZMEĐU DVA SVETSKA RATA" (PDF). Etnološke sveske. 10: 127–134.

External links

• Eparhija-prizren.com (in Serbian)

42°41′26″N 21°07′25″E / 42.69056°N 21.12361°E / 42.69056; 21.12361