Bazaar of Pristina
In its place, buildings of Kosovo Assembly, Municipality of Pristina, PTT, and Brotherhood and Unity socialist square were built.
Bazaars (English marketplace, Turkish pazar, Serbian базар, Albanian çarshia) were unique trading complexes developed in the towns of Kosovo and elsewhere in the Balkans, while the area came under the Ottoman Empire.
While the first was a closed complex of stores, the second was characterized by consecutive rows of crafts shops, where on Tuesdays merchants exposed their products.
Before their construction, people used to expose their crafts on the mosque walls, at the time being practiced only in Albanian towns.
In 1660, Evliya Çelebi claims that Pristina had a [[[Market (place)|market]] area (Bazaar), a hammam, 11 khans and about 300 different shops.
[10] Branislav Nušić, the vice-consul of Kingdom of Serbia, after visiting Pristina in 1893–96, claimed that it had the liveliest trade.
[17] Along the north–south artery, a convoy of caravans were passing through to the other important cities of the Balkans, which influenced the development of Pristina.
The roof structure, frontal facade, windows and eventually floor and ceiling were made of wood.
[21] Its shops were also used for blood feud reconciling, selling and purchasing of property, affiancing procedures, setting of marriage dates, developing patriotic feelings, and cultivating trust or Besa.
[30] Whenever a new shop opened, people used to throw coins on the ground, believing that this superstitious act would bring fortune.
[31] Bazaar or Çarshi Mosque was initially started in 1389 as a mark of Ottoman forces victory in Kosovo Was, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century, by Sultan Bayazid.
[10] As a result, its original look has been modified, but the stone-topped minaret, its distinguishing symbol, has been preserved for more than a half millennium, respectively 600 years.
[32] Khans or inns were specific buildings located in Pristina's bazaar that offered accommodation for traders and their animals, serving as a facilitation of trade.
[10] In its western exit, between the crafts shops, complex was The Round Sadirvanc(“Shadërvani Rrethor”) with one fountain-head and concrete tub.
[10] Among which were from tanning to leather dyeing, belt making and silk weaving, and also military crafts as armorers, smiths, and saddle makers.
There were also other shops were oriental foods were served, kebab stores, butchers, pharmacies, libraries, barbers, watchmakers.
[6] They were crafted by gifted silversmiths, goldsmiths, coppersmiths, tinsmiths, blacksmiths, gunsmiths, tub-makers, cutlers, potters, farriers, saddlers, boot makers, tailors, quilters, and curries.
[7][28] Especially Pristina was known as the center of coppersmiths and pottery crafting, which spread later in other Kosovo cities, such as Prizren, Gjakova, Peja, Gjilan.
Among the crafts were: horse and oxen gears, such as bridles, halters, tacks, collars, headgear, pads, saddles, stirrups, and cuirasses.
Slippers were made of soft leather (sahtian) fabric, embroidered with golden colored strings on the top.
[28] Crafts considered as touristic attractions containing folkloric elements, were supported with suitable shops and lower taxes.
Some of them are the handicraft of curriers, saddlers, tailors, silk processors, goat wool rug makers, and embroiders potters.
[36] The Ottoman bazaar and large parts of the historic center (including mosques, churches, houses) were destroyed.
[38] In the aftermath of World War Two, Yugoslavia was governed by communist authorities who implemented various modernisation drives toward changing the architectural landscape and design of urban settlements.
[40] During the 1950s this process was undertaken by the Urban Planning Institute (Urbanistički zavod) of Yugoslavia with the most prominent example in Kosovo of the socialist modernisation drive being in Pristina.
[40] These buildings were expropriated in 1947 and demolished by labour brigades known as Popular Fronts (Albanian: Fronti populluer, Serbian: Narodnifront).
[40] After the Second World War in 1953, Pristina had its first urban plan, made by Serbian architect Partonic, approved.
This was the starting point of the Bazaar destruction where many crafts shops were ruined to make space for the new Municipality Assembly and Parliament of Kosovo.
The main element of it was the placement of a complex of new municipal and provincial government buildings at its center, where the Ottoman-era bazaar of Pristina was located.
[23] In 1965, there was a public debate held among local experts of architecture and other relevant fields, city officials and citizens, who criticized this Urban Plan, which the architect could not justify.
