Church of Our Lady of Ljevis

The Church of Our Lady of Ljevis (Shën Mëria Levishka) is one of the oldest and most historically layered buildings in Kosovo. Originally a Roman Catholic church dating to the early 13th century, it was rebuilt and adorned with frescoes under Serbian King Stefan Milutin in the early 14th century, converted to a mosque under Ottoman rule, and only returned to Christian worship in the 20th century. In 2006 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo.

The building was badly damaged in post-war violence in 2004, when Albanian rioters burned much of the interior. Restoration work has been ongoing since then with international support, and the church can now be visited, though access is sometimes restricted by the small Serbian Orthodox community that maintains it. The medieval frescoes — what survived — are remarkable. Arrange access through the Kosovo Heritage Council or simply try knocking at the entrance on a weekday morning.

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The church was built as a Catholic basilica in the 13th century, then converted to Serbian Orthodox use under Stefan Milutin, who added the Byzantine frescoes that still cover its walls. The Ottomans later converted it into a mosque, plastering over the Christian paintings to comply with the Islamic prohibition on figural images. When the church was returned to Christian use after Ottoman withdrawal, restorers slowly uncovered the frescoes, finding them largely intact beneath the plaster — a preservation by accident that 14th-century artists could not have anticipated.

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