Sights and landmarks in Pristina

Sights and landmarks in Pristina

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   Association of Political Prisoners

   Ex Office of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Kosovo

   The exterior of one of Pristina's historic Ottoman homes can be seen near the Clock Tower. The Domaniku family, who migrated to Turkey in the early part of the 20th century, had build this palace in the 19th century. For many years, this building housed the Office of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Kosovo, and it is now used by the Association of Political Prisoners.

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   Bear Sanctuary Pristina

   For many years in Kosovo, all privately kept brown bears lived in small cages at restaurants, to attract customers. In 2010, when it became illegal to keep bears privately, there was a need for a national park as a new home for the restaurant bears rescued from captivity. This centre aims to improve the public attention to animal welfare and environmental problems in Kosovo. The sanctuary can be reached by an 8-km hike from Gërmia Park.

   Closed · opens 10 am tomorrow·€2

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   Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa

   The Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa in Pristina is a Roman Catholic cathedral is one of Pristina's tallest buildings inaugurated in 2010. The cathedral is dedicated to the Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary, Saint Teresa of Calcutta. There are audio guides available too.

   €1.50 for climbing to the tower

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   City Park

   Parku i Qytetit

   City park is one of the few parks that city has. It is 500 m from the city centre, about a 7-minute walk. Park has 7.5 hectares, rich flora and fauna, fresh air, hiking trails arranged in the beautiful nature, surrounded but pines and other trees. Hidden from center and heavy traffic and pollution, it is perfect place for escaping and spending quality time with family, friends. During late spring and summer, in relaxing atmosphere young people and various NGOs organize movie nights, poetry session, and live music.

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   Clock Tower

   Sahat Kulla

   It was built in the 19th century by Jashar Pasha. It served as a means of informing the town during the Ottoman Empire rule, in order to let people know when to pray as well as the traders closing their shops. The 26-meter-high hexagonal clock tower was made of sandstone and bricks. The original tower was burned in fire and its bricks were used for reconstruction. The authentic bell was brought from Moldova and had the inscription “This bell was produced in 1764 for Jon Moldova Rumenin”

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   Former Hotel Union building

   Hoteli "Union"

   The building of the former “Hotel Union” was built in 1927 under the supervision of the Austrian architect, Andrija Kremer. It combined elements of neo-Renaissance, neo-baroque and Art Nouveau and was one of the few buildings in Pristina with European-architecture influence. During the first few decades of its existence, it was named “Hotel Skënderbeu” after the 15th-century Albanian resistance leader, Skanderbeg and this was witnessed by his ingrained icons on the building. As of May 2025, Hotel Union is transformed in a shopping center.

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   Galeria 17

   17

   Galeria 17 is in the old neighborhood of Pristina. With a distinct focus on social issues, artists and curators are invited to experiment with concepts, ideas and space. The gallery exhibits content that creates dialogue and fosters public debate while contributing to the documentation and creation of missing references throughout a process that archives and educates.

   Mon-Fri 10:00-17:00·free

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   Gërmia Park

   Here are outposts of green, the biggest and best of which is Gërmia Park. During the summer, the lake-sized swimming pool here is a hot spot for families and young people, but year-round the park offers grassy spaces to relax or kick the ball around, and a network of mine-cleared trails through the dense woods perfect for dog-walking or drunken hide-and-seek tournaments. A couple of restaurants at the top of the park have good food and nice views. Also interesting to check out the cluster-bombed police bunker, just up the road from the best restaurant.

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   Heroinat Memorial

   Heroinat Memorial is a typographic sculpture and tourist attraction. The memorial is placed in a park downtown, in front of the Newborn monument. This memorial honors the sacrifice and contribution of all ethnic Albanian women during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War. The tragic number of victims were transformed into 20,000 medals which are held up by different lengths creating a relief of the heroine’s portrait.

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    Independence Museum

    Kosovo Independence House “Dr. Ibrahim Rugova”

    Historical building that once served as a head of Kosovo Writers Association in late 1980s and then as a former headquarters of the Democratic League of Kosovo at the beginning of 1990s. In 1999, the building was burnt by Serbian forces during the Kosovo war, while after the war it was rebuilt and opened as the museum. The Museum “Independence House Dr. Ibrahim Rugova” was opened at the end of 2007. The space of the Museum is quite small and it reflects the efforts of the Kosovo Albanian people on the road to independence. Various exhibits are represented there, some of them belong to the late former president, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova.

    Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00·free

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    Jewish Cemetery

    Varrezat e Hebrejeve

    Founded in 19th century, it is a burial site in the outskirts of Pristina consisting of 57 tombstones. The city was once home to a Jewish community numbering over 1,500 people, who settled in the Balkans during the late 15th century from Spain after escaping the Reconquista.

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    Kosovo National Museum

    Muzeu Kombëtar

    Closed for renovation since September 2024, this museum has a rich collection of prehistoric objects uncovered in Kosovo – most of them were spirited off to Serbia during the Kosovo war - and hundreds of archaeological finds and ethnographic items, some of which have yet to be returned. Goddess on the Throne is a symbol of Pristina and a must see.

    Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00·Free

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    Mausoleum of Sultan Murat I

    Tomb of Murat I, Tyrbja e "Sulltan Muratit 1"

    Murad I (1362-1389) was the 3rd Ottoman sultan. He was killed in the Battle of Kosovo on 15 June 1389. The monument was built in the 14th century by Murad I's son Bayezid I, becoming the first example of Ottoman architecture in the Kosovo territory. His internal organs were buried in the tomb in Mazgit village near Pristina and his body was sent back to Bursa, the capital city of the Ottoman state at that time. The tomb was restored a couple of times, starting from 15th century, continuing in the 17th and 19th centuries. Inside of the complex you can find the house of Turbedars or tomb caretakers which originally are from Bukhara. Near the tomb you can find also a mulberry tree which is believed to be 400-500 years. Also part of this complex is the selamlik building from 1896.

    10:00 - 17:00 (winter time 09:00 - 16:00)

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    Monument of Brotherhood and Unity

    Adem Jashari square

    It was designed by the Serbian sculptor Miodrag Zirkovic in 1957 and built in 1959. The Brotherhood and Unity monument was constructed during a time of major changes in the capital of Kosovo. The Yugoslav authorities brought a new spirit of socialist realism, which was also manifested through architecture.

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    Museum of American Art

    This is the only place in the country with regular contemporary art exhibitions and events.

    Tue-Fri 11:00-16:00, Sat 11:00-14:00

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    Old Hamam remains

    Great Hamam, Thermelet a Hamamit

    Founded in 15th century. It used to be part of the complex of the Sultan Murat Fatih Mosque and according to the legend, the construction workers who were hired to build Fatih Mosque were ordered by Sultan Mehmet II to take daily baths in the hammam. It had two symmetrical baths, one for women and the other one for men. The hammam is composed of 15 domes with small holes which are used to let the light penetrate in. A fire that occurred in 1994, resulted with an illegal opening of three shops which blocked the old entrance. Unfortunately, a hammam that once used to be a prestigious social venue for men and women, for many years looked abandoned with only few remaining walls full of rubbish, overgrown trees and wastewaters flowing inside of the building.

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    Palace of Youth & Sports

    Pallati i Rinisë dhe i Sporteve

    The Palace of Youth and Sports is a remarkable structure – a symbol for the city of Prishtina – where many activities are held throughout the year. The complex is a popular meeting spot, a stage, a place for cultivating talents and a site that shapes the city’s identity. The decision to build the Palace of Youth and Sports was made by a public referendum. A portion of the budget was provided by Prishtina residents, a percentage of whose wages funded the construction effort. Construction on the sprawling complex was started in 1977 with the completed premises opening to the public four years later, under the name “Boro-Ramiz” Youth and Sports Centre. Živorad Janković was responsible for the building’s singular design. The Palace of Youth and Sports is still used as sporting grounds, where many teams practice and generations of Kosovar athletes have trained. The palace’s Red Hall and Atelier Hall are spaces where the cultural community gathers to celebrate classical music and other forms of creative expression. Damaged in a fire in February 2000, the former ice rink is now a parking lot for the municipal offices within the complex.

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    Park of Martyrs

    Parku Varrezat e Dëshmorëve

    This is a cemetery. Also there is the National Martyr’s Monument (Varrezat e Dëshmorëve).

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    Pristina Ethnographic Museum

    Muzeu Etnologjik Emin Gjiku

    This museum is one of the most valued monuments of Kosovo's cultural heritage under state protection. It consists of four buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, and the extremely interesting ethnological exhibition, which shows the life in Kosovo in the ethnological aspect during the 15th-20th centuries. The exhibition is built around four themes that represent the life cycle: Birth, Life, Death, and Spiritual Heritage. You will be accompanied by a guide to explain the exhibition and will have the opportunity to delve into relevant topics related to the cultural heritage of Kosovo. The restoration process of the main building was finished in 2022, and work began on the preparation of the new permanent exhibition.

    Mon closed, Tue-Sat 10:00-16:30, Sun 10:00-14:30·by donation (2022)

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    Pristina Prison Museum

    Muzeu i Burgut të Prishtinës - Burgu i Idealit

    It used to be a place of horror. From 1945 until the end of the war in Kosovo, hundreds of Kosovo Albanians would experience torture and deprivation from freedom for their dissident thought, activism for rights and liberty. Located in the center of Prishtina, an almost inconspicuous door leads into a once infamous political interrogation center and prison. The cold, damp, coiled corridors; the claustrophobic cells with barred, tiny, grimy windows; the obvious lack of facilities that every human being deserves (although renovations made when the building became a museum improved on what used to really be here); the chest-tightening three-story labyrinth - all these hold within them countless stories of systemic abuse against one group. There is an endlessly looping scroll of the names of people who walked through those doors and never came out the same. Stories of escape attempts using a small metallic file smuggled through a mayonnaise tube; a man giving up his chance to escape to allow his friend to flee into freedom from window to rooftop through barbed wire; a fig tree in the once-walking area with a quote about freedom. The former Prishtina prison has been transformed into a museum. It memorializes the history of persecution and oppression and represents all prisons that tried to break the political prisoners. The building is located next to the main police station in Prishtina.

    Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00·free

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    Saint Nicholas Church

    This is the only remaining operative Serbian Orthodox Church in Pristina. It is housed in a 19th-century building. It used to showcase 18th-century wooden icons, created by painters based in Debar, North Macedonia, several 18th-century frescoes and an iconostasis of 1840 from Belgrade, Serbia, which were all irreversibly damaged during the 2004 unrest. The Saint Nicholas Church once again began to hold liturgies in 2010 in a ceremony attended by a few hundred Serbian Orthodox believers. It now features a revamped exterior, restored roof, new marble tiles and new icons.

    Daily mass ~17:00

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    Saint Saviour Serbian Orthodox Church

    Construction has not been completed after having started in the early 1990s. It has been disputed by ethnic Albanian population after having been constructed in University grounds during Milosevic regime.

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    Shadërvani Fountain

    Shadërvan

    This is a marble fountain between the Carshi Mosque and the Museum of Kosovo and is a typical component of Ottoman architecture. The fountain is the only one remaining in the city from over fifty that once existed. In addition to providing a source of drinkable water, Shadërvan has been traditionally used for ritual ablution.

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    The National Gallery of Kosovo

    The National Gallery, established in 1979, is the highest institution of visual arts in Kosovo. It is the display space of various exhibitions of local and international artists. Kosovan art had been silent for the international public for a decade during the nineties of the last century. Unable to organize exhibitions at the art gallery, due to the infamous regime and difficult circumstances, Kosovar artists sought other alternatives to promote their art. They used restaurants, cafés and other alternative venues for individual and group exhibitions. During the war in Kosovo, many ateliers were set on fire and many artworks were destroyed. The National Gallery organized 297 collective and individual exhibitions from 1979 to 1998, and since 1999, when the National Gallery was reestablished and assigned location in the current building, 350 exhibitions have been organized both locally and internationally.

    Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat Sun 10:00-17:00·free

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    Tjerrtorja Archeological Site

    Tjerrtorja was a neolithic settlement which was identified accidentally in the 1950s. The neolithic site was named after the discovery place, where a factory was started to be built known as the cotton and textile production plant Tjerrtorja. The area was believed to have had an abundant collection of terracotta figurines, human shaped statues and baked clay anthropomorphic artifacts.

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    Ulpiana Archeological Park

    Ulpiana is one of the largest ancient urban sites in Kosovo. In the beginning of the 1st century AD, with the Roman occupation of the Dardania, this multi-layered archaeological site was developed from an ancient Dardanian settlement into a typical Roman town. Municipium Ulpiana was found and urbanized by the Roman Emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus (Trajan). It reached its highest development during the period between 3rd and 4th centuries AD, a time when it was called Municipium Ulpiana Splendidissima – the Splendid City of Ulpiana. Ulpiana was destroyed almost entirely by a destructive earthquake in 518. Emperor Justinian the Great rebuilt it but also renamed it Justinianasecunda. The fortified town of Ulpiana had an area of 35.5 hectares. In the eastern side was the castrum, a fortified field garrison that covered an area of 16 hectares. Ulpiana with its surrounding suburbium occupied about 120 hectares.

    Mon-Fri 09:30-15:30, Sat 10:00–14:00

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    Academy Building

    Akademia e Shkencave dhe e Arteve e Kosovës (ASHAK)

    Rr. Nazim Gafurri

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    Arbëria Park

    Parku Arbëria

    Street Stambolli and Tony Blair

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    Independence Park

    Park i Pavarësisë

    Agim Ramadani Street and Bulevardi Nënë Tereza

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    Taukbashçe Park

    Parku i Taukbashçes

    Nazim Gafurri Street

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Pristina (CC BY-SA 4.0).