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Article: Religious sites imperiled in Kosovo.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- October 13, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Built in 1315, the Church of the Holy Virgin was among the oldest religious monuments in Kosovo. With walls of brick and stone two feet thick, it was built to last. And it did for nearly 700 years, surviving five turbulent centuries of Turkish rule and two world wars this century. But it could not survive the latest spasm of violence in Kosovo.
This past spring, Serb forces looted and burned Musutiste, a mixed village of Serbs and ethnic Albanians pressing up against the foothills of the Zar Mountains. They drove out the entire Albanian population and blew up the 135-foot-high minaret of the village mosque, which had been built in 1974. When the Albanians ...