Our Lady of Ljeviš

Our Lady of Ljeviš
Богородица Љевишка (Serbian)
Bogorodica Ljeviška (Serbian)
Kisha e Shën Premtës (Albanian)
Overview of the church, 1980
42°12′41″N 20°44′09″E / 42.21139°N 20.73583°E / 42.21139; 20.73583
LocationPrizren
CountryKosovo
DenominationSerbian Orthodox
History
StatusChurch
Founded1306–1307
Founder(s)Stephen Milutin
DedicationDormition of the Mother of God
Architecture
Functional statusSemi-active
StyleSerbo-Byzantine style
Administration
DioceseEparchy of Raška and Prizren
Part ofMedieval Monuments in Kosovo
CriteriaCultural: ii, iii, iv
Reference724-003bis
Inscription2006 (30th Session)
Endangered2006–
Official nameCrkva Bogorodice Ljeviške
TypeMonument of Culture of Exceptional Importance
Designated11 March 1948
Reference no.SK 1369

Our Lady of Ljeviš (Serbian: Богородица Љевишка, Bogorodica Ljeviška; Albanian: Kisha e Shën Premtës) is a 14th-century Serbian Orthodox church in the town of Prizren, in southern Kosovo. Since 2006, the church is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site named Medieval Monuments in Kosovo.

The church was built in the beginning of the 14th century on the orders of Stefan Milutin, King of Serbia, on the site of a former Byzantine church. The rebuilt church featured frescoes by Byzantine painters, Michael and Eutychios Astrapas. After the Ottomans completed its annexation of the region in the 15th century, a minaret was erected and the complex was converted into a mosque. In 1912, when the Serbian army annexed Kosovo, the status of the church was restored. After World War II, under SFR Yugoslavia, it saw extensive restoration and reconstruction and functioned as a museum. The site was heavily damaged during the 2004 unrest in Kosovo and has been going through several phases of restoration since then.