Vushtrri (; , Vučitrn; ) is a city and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. Vushtrri has a population of 61,528 and a total area of , which accounts for approximately 3.2% of the territory of Kosovo.
The main characteristics of the city are its cultural and historic monuments. The city's castle, stone bridge, public bath and fountain date back centuries and are the richest heritage of the city.
Etymology In antiquity, Vushtrri may have been known as Viciana. When the Roman Empire invaded Dardania in the 1st century BC, the Romans added the Latin suffix 'um' to the name of Viciana, therefore becoming Vicianum.
In Albanian, Vushtrri is the name of the plant Ononis spinosa, which is abundant in the region. The etymology of city's name in Serbian is derived from both the Serbian (vuk) and Slavic (vlk) terms for wolf and, trn, a Slavic term for thorn.
History
Antiquity The Dardani tribe ruled the region in the Iron Age, until the Roman conquest in the 1st century AD. Archaeological sites exist at various places in the vicinity, including Samodrezha, Pestova, Duboc Fortress, Stroc Castle and Breglumi.
In Vushtrri or in its surrounding a Roman road station named Viciana was located. Viciana was a stopping place for caravans that travelled the Lissus–Naissus route, one of the most important Roman roads. The route started from Lezha (Lissus) on the Adriatic coast, went through the Drin river valley, crossed through Dardania, and continued to Niš (Naissus).
Middle Ages The region after the Romans came under Byzantine, Serbian, and later in 1389, under Ottoman rule.
Between 1402 and 1425, Vushtrri was home to the castle of the Branković dynasty where they received deputies and issued charters. During this time, Vushtrri was a market town and home to many merchants and businessmen hailing from the Republic of Ragusa. In 1439, the town fell to the Ottoman Empire.
Ottoman Empire In 1487, Albanian toponyms, such as Shalc, Kuçiq and Guri i Kuq are mentioned in the Nahija of Vushtrri.
According to historian Oliver Jens Schmitt, Vushtrri in 1486/87 already had a majority Muslim population, there were 43 Muslim families and 33 non-Muslim families.Religion und Kultur im albanischsprachigen Südosteuropap. 31 According to the Ottoman defter of the 16th century, Vushtrri had been significantly Islamised.Selami Pulaha, popullsia shqiptare e kosoves gjate shekujve p. 532-535
In his 1662 work, Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi noted that the residents of Vushtrri were "Rumelians" of which "most of them do not speak Bosnian (Serbo-Croatian) but do speak Albanian and Turkish." "The inhabitants of Vushtrria are Rumelians. Most of them do not speak Bosnian but do speak Albanian and Turkish."1660 Evliya Chelebi: Seyahatname – a Journey through Kosova"The inhabitants of Vushtrria are Rumelians. Most of them do not speak Bosnian, but do speak Albanian and Turkish. They wear broadcloth garments and frontier-style red calpacs with low crests of fur and sable. They turn around (?) the fur of their calpacs, and black silken fringes are visible on the edges. They have teybend waistbands, carry knives of the kortela varsak variety, (9) and wear red trousers with silver buttons and elegant kubadi shoes. Such is the fine dress of the Rumelians."
Vučitrn was also the site of a Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire during the Austro–Turkish war.
Kosovo War
During the Kosovo War, Vushtrri was the location of the Vushtrri massacre, which involved the killing of approximately 100 to 120 Kosovo Albanian refugees by Yugoslav forces on 2–3 May 1999. Vushtrri suffered greatly in loss of human life and arson and razing of historical buildings by the Serbian paramilitary forces. The destroyed monuments range from old Ottoman style houses to many historical Ottoman mosques, such as Gazi Ali Beg Mosque (1410).
During the 2004 unrest in Kosovo, ethnic Kosovo Albanians including former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters burnt down the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Elijah and attacked members of the local Ashkali community. The UNMIK and KFOR failure to respond to repeated calls to help from the Ashkali community resulted in 69 homes being burnt down.
Geography Vushtrri is located in the north-east of Kosovo. Vushtrri is surrounded by Mitrovica in the north, Podujevë in the east, Obiliq in the south, Drenas in the south-west and Skenderaj to the west. The municipality of Vushtrri has 67 villages. The lowest point is above sea level, near the place where the river Smrekonica flows into the Sitnica river. The highest point in the territory is at the Maja e Zezë peak, in the south of Bare village. The valley territories surround the Sitnica river, which runs from north to south, reaching its maximum width before it merges with the Llapi river. The hilliest part of the municipality is mostly in the east and west sides. The mountains in Vushtrri are in the south part of Kopaonik and the east side of Kukavica. The Kukavica Mountains lie in the western side of the city, with a highest point of . These mountains are a natural border between two big valleys, known as Rrafshi i Kosovës and Fushëgropa e Drenicës.
The biggest river flowing into Vushtrri is the Sitnica. It is the second biggest natural basin river of Kosovo (), after the Drin ().
Climate
Because of its geographical position, Kosovo has both a Mediterranean-Continental climate and European-Continental climate. Vushtrri has cold winters and hot summers. The city doesn't have a climate station with full data and observations of meteorological conditions, so the main information comes from the nearest stations in Mitrovica and Pristina. Vushtrri has approximately 2,140 hours of sun during the year.
The highest average temperatures are in the months of July and August (20˚C), while the lowest temperatures are in January (-1˚C). The annual average temperature is about 10.1˚C. The annual average rate of air humidity is 77.2%. Average annual precipitation is about .
Politics The mayor of the Vushtrri municipality is Ferit Idrizi, who is part of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). He was elected in the 2021 local elections for the first consecutive term. The municipality assembly consists of 35 members from nine political parties and an independent member of assembly, and its chairman is Nasuf Aliu. The executive of the municipality consists of 12 departments.
According to USAID in 2012, higher percentages of Vushtrri residents compared to Kosovo's averages said that the Public Administration was efficient or very efficient in issuing all of the following documents: passports (87%), ID cards (90%), vehicle registration documents (79%), driver's licenses (84%), building permits (73%), business licenses (70%), marriage, birth, and death certificates (87%), and Social Assistance cards (69%).
2012 data showed that the share of Vushtrri residents who were satisfied with the work of their Mayor, Municipal Assembly, and Municipal Administration was lower than Kosovo's average: 67% of Vushtrri residents compared to 69% of Albanians on average were satisfied with the work of their Mayor; 49% compared to 63% of Albanians with the work of their Municipal Assembly; and 45% compared to 64% of Albanians with the work of the Municipal Administration. A relatively high share (65%) of Vushtrri residents believed that their local authorities had the capacity to solve the problems in their municipality. The share of those who believed that only the central government can solve these problems was equal to Kosovo's average of 15%.
Demography
According to the 2024 national census by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, Vushtrri has a population of 61,528, from which approximately 28,000 people live in the urban area. The municipality of Vushtrri includes the city and 67 villages.
Ethnic groups The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of Vushtrri are Albanians (98.9%), while minorities include Turks (0.37%), Serbs (0.33%) and others (0.4%). Total Albanian Turks Serbs Bosniaks Roma Ashkali Others 61,528 60,847 230 207 22 129 45 48
Language The municipality of Vushtrri has two official languages, Albanian and Serbian, and Turkish as a language in official use.
The Albanians of Vushtrri speak the Gheg dialect of the Albanian language.
Economy Vushtrri is a city with sustainable economic development, thanks to good-quality arable land that offers favorable conditions for cultivating many agricultural crops.
The Vushtrri municipal assembly, during its session on 27 March 2008, decided to create an Industrial Zone of common interest in the zones of Banjskë, Tarazhë, Bukosh and Gracë.
As of 2015, there were 2641 registered businesses. Based on official data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, 45.36% of businesses are engaged in commerce, 19% in transportation and telecommunication, 9% in offering services like hotels and restaurants. Retail activity is concentrated mainly in the city center.
With the drafting of the Municipal Development Plan (2009–2014+), both sides of the highway are designated as places where businesses can be developed at a distance of . There are also plans to construct an industrial area in a place called Lumadh, in an area of where million will be invested along with donors to complete infrastructure for the area, which will help to improve conditions for business activities, especially manufacturing.
The municipality of Vushtrri lies between two regional centers, Pristina and Mitrovica. This enables access to these two big markets. According to the municipality's official data, there are 231 employees in administration, 1120 in education, 222 in healthcare and welfare.
There are 4218 employees in Vushtrri's businesses. This data only includes administration employees, while other public institutions, households, hospital, schools, police, prison, etc., are not included. The total number of employed people in Vushtrri is approximately 16,000.
Agriculture
One of the main economic activities in Vushtrri is agriculture. The most cultivated crops are potato, wheat, corn, vegetables and forage crops. In recent years orchards with apples, plums, and pears are expanding more and more.
Vushtrri is the biggest producer of potatoes in Kosovo. The quality of the seed, the advanced technology used in potato cultivation, as well as the introduction of the irrigation system from the ‘Ibër–Lepenc’ hydrosystem have been mentioned for the success of this municipality in the cultivation of potato.
Investments Similar to the rest of the municipalities in Kosovo, unemployment was considered to be the biggest problem in Vushtrri by 47% of its residents. Poor water supply is ranked the biggest problem by 17% and poor electricity supply by 13%. The proportion of employed adults (aged 18–64) in Vushtrri (29%) was equal to Kosovo's average. While the percentage of unemployed was 22%, the share of those who are outside the labor market (49%) as they were either unemployed and not looking for work (4%), were studying, disabled, or housewives, or had retired was slightly higher than Kosovo's average of 45%. The majority of adult women residing in Vushtrri (77%) were outside the labor market; the equivalent figure for men was 29%; 11% of women were in employment, compared to 42% of men. Infrastructure
Education
The first Albanian school in Vushtrri was opened in the fall of 1915. The High School of Economics was opened in June 1961 to fulfill the need for financial and accounting professionals. The gymnasium in Vushtrri opened in 1963–1964. In 1983, the city's first kindergarten was established.