Peja

Peja (Indefinite Albanian form: Pejë pɛˈj) or Peć (Пећ petɕ) is the fourth largest city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipality and Peja District. It is situated in the region of Rugova on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along Peja's Lumbardh in the western part of Kosovo. In medieval times the city was the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1346. The Patriarchal monastery of Peć is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo. Under Ottoman rule the city, then commonly known under the Turkish name İpek, became a district capital with mosques and civil architecture. From the end of the nineteenth century until today, the city has been the site of nationalist aspirations and claims for both ethnic Albanians and Serbs, often resulting in tense inter-ethnic relations and conflict. According to the 2011 census, the city of Peja has 48,962 inhabitants, while the municipality has 96,450 inhabitants. The municipality covers an area of , including the city of Peja and 95 villages; it is divided into 28 territorial communities. The city was first mentioned as Siparantum by Ptolemy in his work Geography. In Serbian, peć means 'furnace' or 'cave', and its name is probably connected with nearby caves in the Rugova Canyon that served as hermit cells for Serbian Orthodox monks. In medieval Ragusan documents, the Serbian name of the city (Peć, lit. 'furnace') is sometimes translated as Forno, meaning 'furnace' in Italian. During Ottoman rule, it was known as Ottoman Turkish İpek (ايپك). The Albanian name's definite form is Peja and the indefinite Pejë. Other names of the city include Latin Pescium and Greek Episkion (Επισκιον). The city is located in a strategic position on Peja's Lumbardh, a tributary of the White Drin to the east of the Accursed Mountains. The medieval city was possibly built on the ruins of Siparant(um), a Roman municipium (town or city). The area has the most unearthed stelae in all of Kosovo. Slavs (Sclaveni and Antes) settled the Balkans, heavily depopulated by "Barbarians", in the 6th century.