When I had the Euronews channel they would sometimes talk about the restoration work by the EU at the Unesco Serbian Orthodox Churches in Kosovo. I was not aware of these on my first trip in 2013 so wanted to explore these historic sites. Due to the tensions after Kosovo independence these sites are protected by KFOR forces.
Today was raining so I had to wear my rain overpants. I also hadnt slept and had stomach issues. I stopped by the bakery on the way to the bus station and took a 10am bus to Peja.
There was not a direct bus to Decani so I would have to change on Peja. But I planned to spend the return in Peja as there is another UNESCO Serbian Church and the Ottoman old town.
Bus fare was 5 Euros and they were playing ethnic music. I had not been to this part of Kosovo on my last visit in 2013
On arrival at Peja I had to figure out the onward bus to Decani. When I asked at the counter they told me to take the Gjakove bus where I would be going tomorrow.
The Gjakove bus left at 11.45. The conductor recognized me as a foreigner and asked if I was going to the Monastery. Bus fare was 1.40 Euros. As this was a local bus it was going very slow at 40km, waiting to pick up more passengers, or acting as a package relay for people waiting on roadsides to drop or receive packages.
There is no signage when you reach Decan to tell you the name of the town but I heard an older lady saying she wanted to go to Decan so when it was her stop I waved to the ticket collector who spoke some English and told me where to go for the Monastery
I had researched the walking route on google maps so had a general idea where to go. From the roundabout is one road that will lead all the way to the Monastery. It was about a 25 min walk and I was the only person going here.
Eventually you will come to a KFOR checkpoint to tell you that you are going the right way and almost here. Albanian mobs attacked the Churches in the 1990s so they are now protected by KFOR forces but open to the public and visitors
First they checked my passport. There are rotating EU member nations to protect the sites. Today it seemed to be Hungarians on duty from their uniform flags.
At the actual Monastery is the second checkpoint. Here you must hand in your passport and they will give you a visitors badge, so remember to ask for your passport back when leaving
I had the entire Monastery for myself and the rain seemed to be waiting for my arrival and decided to start up
Inside were very nice frescos typical of Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches. The Greek Orthodox Churches I had visited did not have this level of artwork and murals
So I had the entire place to myself which seemed typical for many of the places I visited on my trip. I did not know until later but one of the paintings depicts what is disputed to be a possible UFO visitation.
After leaving and collecting my passport I then had the long walk back to the roundabout to get the return bus to Peja. The rain seemed to be following me
Waiting for the bus two boys outright asked me for 10 Euros, to which I said 'no' and they walked off without giving me any bother. The bus arrived and it was the same bus that had dropped me off on its return trip and the same conductor that recognized me waiting
See also Vlog of Kosovo [Pristina - Decani - Peja - Gracanica - Gjakove - Prizren](36 mins) - https://youtu.be/hgjHvoR_7KQ
2025-05-22