The city of Gjilan is located in a distance of 47 km in the southeast of the capital city Prishtina. It has a surface of 515 km2 and includes 63 villages. In this part of Kosovo, which is also known with the name Anamorava there is a population of 130.000 inhabitants. Gjilan started to be identified as a city after Novoberda stopped functioning, one of the most important economic and mineral centers in the entire Balkan. The exact time when Gjilan was created is not known, although according to traditional legends Gjilan was populated since the year 1750. Gjilan was established from the feudal family called Gjinaj, which ruled an immense part of today’s Kosovo territories. It has been said that Gjinaj family had moved from Novoberda to Gjilan that exists today, and the person who founded this place is considered to be Bahti Beg Gjinolli. The main river that crosses this part is Morava e Binces, and there are two artificial lakes also: the lake in Lepence, and the lake of Prilepnica. Only the Prilepnica Lake functions. Three rivers flow in Gjilan, Dobusha River, Banjska River, and Stranishorka River. The natural resources of water combined together with the productiveness lands make Gjilan one of the main fields for pomology (fruit cultivation) in Kosovo. Karavica or as it is been known today Mrizaj is an example for traditional cultivation of cherry’s. The city of gjilan was involved in fires in year 1830, a reason why most of the buildings due to the time after this year. Besides all this the city of gjilan is one of the most risky places in Kosovo when speaking of earthquakes.

Get in

From the capital city Prishtina there are 47km needed to travel to reach to the city of gjilan. You can travel with the traffic- urban busses that circulate in this destination every 20 minutes with a price of only 1.50 Euros. Also, you can arrive in the city of Gjilan even if you travel from the city of Ferizaj by buss, with the same regular circulating hours.

See

The visitation of this city can be managed really easily and with a less amount of time comparing with other cities, and then you can visit other villages around the city of Gjilan which have a really beautiful sightseeing. The street Skenderbeu or as you can see it in different posters Str. Independence (Pavaresia) is a really good idea to start your visit in this city. The Mosque “Xhamia e Carshise” is located in this street, and has been damaged during the earthquake in year 2001. Now it is being renovated with a modern Arabic style. Nearby the Mosque there is another one called “Xhamia e Medreses” which dates from the 14th century and has special entrances for men and women. In the garden of this Mosque there are various old graves which are located there. Not far away you can find also the music school, which as a building is established in the year 1800. On the way to the capital Prishtina you continue to the second right curve of the road and there the St Nikolla’s Church is located. Every January you can join the literary festival named “Flaka e Janarit” which is organized for the honor of Jusuf Gervalla.