The old bazaar of Pristina is the most atmospheric corner of the city — a compact network of cobblestoned lanes lined with small workshops, coffee shops, and traditional craftsmen's stalls. It dates to the 15th century when Pristina was an important trading post on the Ottoman road network. Much of it was demolished during the Yugoslav era, but the surviving portion near the Jashar Pasha Mosque retains genuine character.
The bazaar is best visited in the morning, when metalworkers, cobblers, and jewellers are busy at their benches and the smell of coffee drifts out of every doorway. Traditional Albanian filigree jewellery is one of the crafts you will find here, and it makes a far better souvenir than anything in the tourist shops on Mother Teresa Boulevard.
The area also contains a hammam (the Great Hammam), several mosques, and a couple of good traditional restaurants. It is not large — you can cover it on foot in twenty minutes — but it rewards slow wandering. This is one of the few parts of Pristina that has not been rebuilt from scratch since 1999.