Tuesday 4 May 2021

SERBIA

A nice UNESCO cover from Serbia, depicting a complete set issued in 2021 celebrating the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo. The Medieval Monuments in Kosovo are a World Heritage Site consisting of four Serbian Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries which represent the fusion of the eastern Orthodox Byzantine and the western Romanesque ecclesiastical architecture to form the Palaiologian Renaissance style. The construction was founded by members of Nemanjić dynasty, the most important dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. The sites are located in the modern-day Kosovo. In 2004, UNESCO recognized the Dečani Monastery for its outstanding universal value. Two years later, the site of patrimony was extended as aerial nomination, to include three other religious monuments: Patriarchate of Peć Monastery, Our Lady of Ljeviš and Gračanica Monastery. In 2006 the property was inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger due to difficulties in its management and conservation stemming from the region's political instability. There is also an ongoing controversy over Kosovo's bid to join the UNESCO, which would result in the sites being listed as part of Kosovo and not Serbia. These monuments have come under attack, especially during the ethnic violence in 2004, during Kosovo's UNMIK rule, when the Our Lady of Ljeviš was heavily damaged. In October 2015 Kosovo was recommended for membership by the UNESCO Executive Board bus UNESCO has not accepted Kosovo as a member.