Concept

Prizren

Summary
Prizren (Prizreni priˈzr:ɛni; Призрен) is the second most populous city and municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and district. It is located on the banks of the Prizren River between the foothills of the Sharr Mountains in southern Kosovo. Prizren experiences an oceanic climate under the influence of the surrounding mountains. Prizren is constitutionally designated as the historical capital of the country. Archaeological excavations in Prizren Fortress indicate that its fortress area has seen habitation and use since the Bronze Age. Prizren has been traditionally identified with the settlement of Theranda in Roman Dardania, although other locations have been suggested in recent research. In late antiquity it was part of the defensive fortification system in western Dardania and the fort was reconstructed in the era of eastern Roman Emperor Justinian. Byzantine rule in the region ended definitively in 1219-20 as the Serbian Nemanjić dynasty took control of the fort and the town. Prizren briefly served as the capital of the Serbian Empire under the reign of Stefan Dušan and from 1371, a series of regional feudal rulers came to control Prizren including the Balšić, Dukagjini, Hrebeljanović and finally the Branković families, often with Ottoman support. The Ottoman Empire assumed direct control after 1450. Prizren first developed in the area below the fortress which overlooks the Bistrica river on its left bank. Since the 16th century, economic development fueled the expansion of the city's neighbourhoods to the river's right bank. The name of the city has been linked with that of Petrizen, a fort in Dardania mentioned by Procopius in the 6th century. Hamp has suggested that the name of the city roughly meant "ford-horned animal" with the IE root ḱrn "horn, horned-thing" (cf. Oxford). According to Curtis, Prizren follows Albanian phonetic sound rules. The earliest archaeological find is the so-called Runner of Prizren which is a bronze figure of a running girl. A dealer sold it to the British Museum in 1876.
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