November 07, 2005 KiM Info Newsletter 07-11-05
Lead roof stolen from the church of Bogorodica Ljeviska in Prizren "This is an unprecedented theft," Bishop Teodosije said in a statement for the KIM Info Service. "It is simply unbelievable that vandals were able to carry off the lead roof from a medieval church that is to be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List next year unnoticed, and that none of the security officials even noticed, let alone did something to prevent this from happening," said Bishop Teodosije. He added that he sent an urgent letter today to UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen and the KFOR commander, General Giueseppe Valotto, in his capacity of representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the process of church restoration in Kosovo and Metohija asking them not only to find the perpetrators of this misdeed but to urgently provide protection for the church by KFOR and the Kosovo Police Service. Prizren, November 14, 2005 Two days ago while visiting churches foreseen for restoration, Vicar Bishop Teodosije and the Gordana Markovic, the director of the Serbian Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, established that a large part of the lead covering has been removed from the roof of the church of Bogorodica Ljeviska (Most Holy Theotokos of Ljevis) in Prizren. Over 100 square meters of the lead roof has been stolen from the north and south naves of the church, as well as from a part of the narthex. "This is an unprecedented theft," Bishop Teodosije said in a statement for the KIM Info Service. "It is simply unbelievable that vandals were able to carry off the lead roof from a medieval church that is to be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List next year unnoticed, and that none of the security officials even noticed, let alone did something to prevent this from happening," said Bishop Teodosije. He added that he sent an urgent letter today to UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen and the KFOR commander, General Valotto, in his capacity of representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the process of church restoration in Kosovo and Metohija asking them not only to find the perpetrators of this misdeed but to urgently provide protection for the church by KFOR and the Kosovo Police Service. "If this church had stayed under the protection of KFOR, as the Serbian Orthodox Church requested many times, and if the Kosovo Police Service had been doing its job this never would have happened. I openly asked international officials how we can advance in the process of restoration of Orthodox churches in Kosovo and Metohija when their destruction and desecration continues without obstruction," said the Vicar Bishop of Lipljan. "This barbaric act in Prizren on the very eve of the beginning of negotiations on the future status of the Province confirms that Kosovo institutions, especially the KPS, apparently lack both readiness and capability to protect the Serbian Orthodox spiritual heritage, and that it is necessary to find long-term mechanisms of international protection for these buildings from further destruction," concluded Bishop Teodosije, who filed a report with police today to initiate the investigation. Bishop Teodosije also informed Bishop Artemije, the head of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren, in detail, as well as the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In the opinion of Zoran Garic, the director of the office of the Serbian Institute in Leposavic and member of the Commission on Restoration, the theft most probably occurred about twenty days ago because at that time the lead roof was still untouched. Without the lead roof the frescoes in the church are in even greater danger and now the priority is to repair this damage, otherwise the interior of the church will be exposed to serious damage during the winter months. Bishop Teodosije has already submitted a proposal to the Commission for the restoration of churches for the urgent rechanneling of funding in order to place a lead covering over the whole roof; however, according to the Bishop of Lipljan, this will not help much if the church is left without adequate KFOR and police protection. "This barbaric act in Prizren on the very eve of the beginning of negotiations on the future status of the Province confirms that Kosovo institutions, especially the KPS, apparently lack both readiness and capability to protect the Serbian Orthodox spiritual heritage, and that it is necessary to find long-term mechanisms of international protection for these buildings from further destruction," said Bishop Teodosije. The church of Bogorodica Ljeviska was formerly the main cathedral of the Diocese of Prizren, and was rebuilt by King Milutin in 1306-07 on the remnants of an earlier Orthodox basilica dating back to Byzantine times. The church is one of the most beautiful construction projects from the time of the Nemanjic dynasty. During Ottoman rule the church was converted into a mosque; after the liberation of the region from Turkish rule, it was once again returned to the Orthodox Church. Restoration work on the church was done during the period 1950-52, when the most beautiful frescoes from the 13th and 14th centuries were cleaned, among them the renowned Theotokos of Eleusa and Christ "The Provider of Prizren". During last year's March pogrom the Albanians set fire to the church and seriously damaged the building's structure and the frescoes. At the same time, a small part of the lead roof was removed, the crosses were stolen from the domes, and the windows were smashed. Following the insistence of UNESCO and the Serbian Ministry of Culture in May 2005 emergency restoration was done to reinforce the structure of the belltower and samples of the frescoes were taken. This work was done by Serbian experts led by Zoran Garic and members of the Serbian Institute in cooperation with the local Prizren institute for the protection of cultural monuments and restorers from Italy. According tot he program of the Commission for the restoration of churches destroyed or damaged during the March riots during November and December the church of Bogorodica Ljeviska is expected to undergo repair of the damaged part of the roof covering, stabilization of the belltower, installation of new doors and windows, as well as the placement of a fence around the church. During the second phase of restoration, starting in spring 2006, the beginning of restoration of damaged frescoes as well as other restoration and conservation work on the interior of the church are expected. More about the church of the Holy Virgin of Ljevis: http://www.kosovo.com/ljeviska.html Another tragic message for Kosovo Serbs "The fact that unknown perpetrators removed 100 square meters of the lead roof from the Prizren church, the most important monument destroyed on March 17 last year and which is now in the phase of so-called restoration, only serves to confirm that instead of restoration what is occurring is the continued destruction of Orthodox Christian holy shrines and cultural monuments," said Bishop Artemije, who is presently visiting the monastery of Sopocani. Torched holy shrine desecrated once again - Church of Bogorodica Ljeviska in Prizren (this beautiful 14th century Serbian Orthodox cathedral was burned by Albanian rioters in March 2004) SOPOCANI, November 14, 2005 (Tanjug) Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren said in a statement for Tanjug this evening that the latest damage to the church of Bogorodica Ljeviska in Prizren is a new tragic message with the goal of causing unrest among the Serbs who remain in Kosovo and Metohija at the very same time as the beginning of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo. "The fact that unknown perpetrators removed 100 square meters of the lead roof from the Prizren church, the most important monument destroyed on March 17 last year and which is now in the phase of so-called restoration, only serves to confirm that instead of restoration what is occurring is the continued destruction of Orthodox Christian holy shrines and cultural monuments," said Bishop Artemije, who is presently visiting the monastery of Sopocani. According to the Bishop, the perpetrators were aware that removing the roof from a building on the eve of winter means exposing it to final destruction, especially the frescoes inside the church which have already been largely damaged by fire on March 17 of last year. "In any case, this is proof that in Kosovo and Metohija we cannot even talk about any sort of security, the protection of human lives and the protection of our holy shrines. The best evidence of that is also this attack on Bogorodica Ljeviska, which is expected to be included on the World Heritage List," said Bishop Artemije. The worst thing of all, he added, is that no one is held accountable for the destruction of our cultural heritage, and everything ends in words and promises. "Only the living monasteries still enjoy some semblance of protection by KFOR and UNMIK police while other buildings are exposed to local arbitrariness," concluded Bishop Artemije. He emphasized that all this proves the insincerity of the Kosovo provisional institutions and the insincerity of their supposed efforts to established democracy and multiethnicity in Kosovo and Metohija. Samardzic: Another act of cultural genocide BELGRADE, November 14, 2005 (Tanjug) Slobodan Samardzic, advisor to Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica, assessed today that the destruction and theft of the roof on the church of Bogorodica Ljeviska in Prizren is another act of the same cultural genocide that has been going on for six years in Kosovo and Metohija. "This is something that the souls of the perpetrators will be held accountable for but even more it is something that the souls of those responsible for protecting cultural monuments in Kosovo and Metohija will be held accountable for, that is, UNMIK and KFOR," said Samardzic in a statement for Tanjug. "This senseless act, in fact, sends a message not only to the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and not only to Serbia but to the whole international community. That message is that no matter what is done to calm the situation, Albanian terrorists and extremists are still carrying out their work. That is, they are destroying everything in front of them and giving the Serbs a sign that they are not wanted in Kosovo and Metohija," emphasized Samardzic. "I cannot help but ask myself after this how it is even possible to talk about the status of Kosovo and Metohija of acts like this are still taking place in the province. Of course, now we can say that the perpetrators should be found and punished but keeping in mind that Kosovo and Metohija, that the people there are responsible for realizing standards at the same time that talks are going on, the destruction of the roof in Bogorodica Ljeviska suggests how well those standards are going to be realized," he stressed. According to Samardzic, if something is still not done after this, then really it is a big question "how to go on and what to do next". "Will the international community do something to at least protect the cultural monuments in this most sensitive region and will clearly defined standards began to be realized with respect to the protection of the Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija and the protection of religious freedoms in this area of Kosovo and Metohija?" asked Samardzic. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/1dTolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> =============== Group Moderator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] page at http://magazine.sorabia.net for more informations about current situation in Serbia http://www.sorabia.net Slusajte GLAS SORABIJE nas talk internet-radio (Serbian Only) http://radio.sorabia.net Yahoo! 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