The Devič Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox abbey in Kosovo. It was built in 1434 and is dedicated to St Joanikije of Devič. Devič was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia.
Devič Monastery reconstruction after it was burned down in 2004
Serbs leaving monastery after 2004 unrest
Burned and desecrated interior of the Devič. Note UÇK graffiti in the church apse.
Burned monastery lodgings covered in snow
The Kosovo Liberation Army was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia during the 1990s. Albanian nationalism was a central tenet of the KLA and many in its ranks supported the creation of a Greater Albania, which would encompass all Albanians in the Balkans, stressing Albanian culture, ethnicity and nation.
Statue of Hamëz Jashari.
UÇK monument in Deçan
Members of the Kosovo Liberation Army turn over their weapons to U.S. Marines
Weapons confiscated from the KLA, July 1999