Development of craftsmanship in vilayet of Kosova

Abstract

Crafts were well-developed during 19th century in Kosova. The highest stage Albanian crafts reached in the period between 1750 and 1850 - 60. They numbered at this point up to 80 crafts. Prizren was in particular, leading clearly as the most developed town with crafts in Kosova. Foreign consuls, particularly of AustroHungary, regarded it as the main producer of weaponry in Balkans. Among other things, Prizren produced a short gun of wide gauge named Tromblon. Anyway, the other towns of Kosova were following Prizren in this regard. Gjakova has been famous for its antic crafting of woolen-hats, then Peja, Prishtina, Gjilani, Ferizaji and so on with various crafts. Vilayet of Kosova was renowned for construction building, especially Dibrans. As architect D. Grabian, put it: “If Istanbul is ruined, Dibra would rebuild it again, but if Dibra is, Istanbul cannot make it”. During 19th century, the ancient tradition of woolen-hats crafting was still persisting. According to Aleksander Stipceviq’s opinion, it is believed that this type of the round white hat, similar to Albanian plis, directly derives and can be traced back to Illyrians. Long history of this traditional hat can be substantiated of one type of plis, known in Albanian as “Skanderbeg’s Tomb”. The most famous town with hat crafting in 19th century was Gjakova. Serbian and Montenegrin occupation of Kosova Vilayet in 1912, besides in other fields, had consequences in halting its development, as well as resulting in destruction of many types of traditional crafts. Some of the crafts gradually came to an end because of the establishment of first factories in Kosova, and of the arrival of foreign fabricated goods.