A difficult past, a complex present, and an uncertain future. This is what Kosovo is all about. While there are many cities in this beautiful region that demonstrate these hardships in their own ways, it is hard to find a place that shows it more starkly than Mitrovica. Divided by the Ibar river, two different realities, two identities, and arguably two enemies coexist in what is supposedly a single city. It is so unique that the closest analogue I have seen so far was Nicosia in Cyprus, yet another divided city that came as a result of ethnic tensions. A visit to Mitrovica is a must if you are in the region, and I hope that the following article can convince you of that!
You can reach Mitrovica with a short bus ride from Pristina. You will be left on the southern bit of the town, the part that is considerably larger than the northern part and is governed from Pristina. Albanian heroes, new and old, are memorialized in the streets leading to Ibar river. Locals seem friendly, but also a bit gloomy. I suppose, prospects of further conflict just around the corner cannot possibly be good for the morale.
After all, the city is home to some morbid displays like this, that make it impossible to forget where you are. While the youth in Belgrade or Pristina may be oblivious to the horrors that once took place in the conflict between their parents and grandparents, denizens of cities like Mitrovica are reminded of these troubling times on a daily basis.
After wondering around the Albanian side of the city for a while, I arrived at the Ibar river. It flowed ever so peacefully, especially for a river that divides a community. There are a few bridges crossing it, and the one that is open for most people is simply called the Mitrovica Bridge. It must be noted that this bridge was not here for a very long time, and it is not always open today. If tensions are high, no one can cross the bridge. There are always some foreign soldiers from all around the world who monitor the pedestrians crossing the bridge. I was asked to show my passport as I took a photo of this bridge as well, which was, in hindsight, is only expected. There are not that many travellers in this part of the world, and that photo can be used for multiple reasons.
While the Albanian side of the city uses Euros, the Serbian side sticks to Serbian dinar. Knowing that I would not have much legal tender on the other side, we opted to have a quick lunch at a recommended Italian restaurant called Ura, overlooking the Mitrovica Bridge, before heading north. The seafood risotto was good, though as someone who is inexperienced with risotto in general my judgment may be compromised with the generous amount of seafood it had, rather than the overall quality of the dish.
What makes me say that is, unlike the risotto, the pizza was not really all that good. Its dough was boring, sauce a bit tasteless, and ingredients not that plentiful. It was not terrible, but I would not have ordered it again. However, I loved the service, the view of the bridge and the Serbian side behind it was fascinating, and prices were reasonable. If you do end up going there, just stick to non-pizza items on the menu.
Finally, it was time to cross that bridge I have been eyeing for far too long. While the transition was smooth in practice, it was also quite radical in reality. The new high rises on the Albanian side clash with the seeming abandonment of the decaying urban landscapes of the Serbian side. While Pristina receives a good amount of foreign aid and investment, it seems like Belgrade would rather not invest its own hard-earned cash in potential conflict zones. An unfortunate yet understandable move.
While Serbian Mitrovica may not be the flashiest of towns, it does get some love from the Serbian Orthodox Church. There is a recently built beautiful Orthodox Church dedicated to St. Dimitri, and it is a must see on your way up to the Yugoslav monument dedicated to miners. I have seen some of the jolliest priests of my life in this religious site, and that explains the affection this church has received since its inception. Although the conflict in this part of the world is ethnic in origin, one cannot deny the fact that while one party is predominantly Serbian Orthodox, the other is Muslim, creating yet another rift between these two hostile groups.
After I had my fill of Orthodox chanting, all that was left to do was to continue on the path going uphill. This is a very easy hike, even in a hot summer day. If you are lucky, you may even run into some turtles like this one. There were some stray dogs around, but they seemed harmless enough.
Eventually, you arrive at this Yugoslav monument, dedicated to the miners of the region. Kosovo itself is rich in mines, but Mitrovica specifically was known for its mining industry in the 20th century. The monument is a bit too abstract for my taste. What I can see are two hands reaching up from the ground, showing us all the ore they just mined from the bowels of Mother Earth. While it is not a bad sight to see itself, the best sight to behold is just behind the monument.
You can have a look at the entire city once you reach this lookout point. While the Serbian side has its churches and Serbian flags, the Albanian side has Kosovar (and some Albanian) flags and mosques. The letters UÇK, referring to The Kosovo Liberation Army, can be found adorning the hillsides looking at the Serbian side of the city. Crosses of many types can be seen doing the same towards the Albanian side from the opposite end of the city.
After appreciating these stark differences for a while, I looked back to see the mining heritage of the region in all of its glory. While that chimney is a dead giveaway, the much harder to spot heap of coal on the right side of this photo is the most convincing argument for the ongoing mining operations in the region.
Eventually, it was time to head back to the bus station, but not before visiting the city center on the Serbian side of Mitrovica. You have to take the same route back almost all the way down to the bridge, and then follow the main street to get to the city’s actual center.
On the way down, you will have a chance to enjoy the views from the Orthodox Church of St. Dimitri once again. While it is impressive on its own right, the street art you will soon see will even be more impressive, and rather unique!
When tensions are high, and emotions are flowing, art becomes a way for expressing one’s feelings, allegiance, and opinions. It is always like that, but its role becomes ever more visible in situations like the one we see in Kosovo. While Kosovar artists lost no time creating nationalist murals all around cities like Pristina, Prizren, and Peja, a similar trend can be seen in Mitrovica, this time mostly carried out by the Serbian party.
The slogan “Kosovo is Serbian and Crimea is Russian” is not unheard of, and you can find it visualized in a street corner in Mitrovica’s Serbian side. Well, I suppose you could not possibly find it on the Albanian side so giving that extra bit of information was as useless as it can get…
All sorts of nationalistic imagery can be found at the very heart of Serbian Mitrovica, and in most cases, they do speak for themselves. Unfortunately, I could not dare photograph all of them. While Serbs were, overall, seemed more welcoming than the Albanians, I still did not want to risk annoying anyone as a pesky tourist who took a photo of the clearly nationalist mural that they were sitting or standing next to. Besides, this just gives you more reasons to visit the city yourself, there is more to it then I can show at the moment.
While some may prefer flashy visuals, some others are content with mere words. Though all these murals conclude, in one way or another, that NATO is not welcome, it is writings like these, which are practically everywhere, that make it abundantly clear. Similar sentiments can be seen written all around Belgrade as well.
A statue of Lazar of Serbia can be found at the very center of the Serbian Mitrovica. It points ever so gracefully to a certain direction, to Kosovo. You can interpret it in multiple ways. While he may in fact simply be pointing at the site of Battle of Kosovo, where he died alongside his rival Murad I of the Ottoman Empire, he is, more generally speaking, just pointing towards Kosovo.
With a ton on my mind to wonder about, and plenty of mosquito bites to worry about, I made my way back to the Albanian side of the city, to enjoy a cup of tea, before returning to the bus station to make the journey back to Pristina.
If none of what I wrote so far convinced you to visit Mitrovica, nothing else I can write now can. It is an exceptional city, a unique spot on our globe, and admittedly a depressing little town. It is not for everyone, that much is certain, but it is well worth your time if you want to see a very different side of the world we live in.