Kačanik or
Kaçanik is a town and municipality in southern
KosovoKosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, in the
UroševacThe Uroševac District or Ferizaj District is one the seven districts of Kosovo, with seat in Uroševac.-Municipalities:* Uroševac * Štimlje * Kačanik * Štrpce...
district. The municipality covers an area of 211 km² (81 sq mi), including the town of Kačanik and 31 villages. It has a population of approximately 33,454. With the exception of eight
RomaRoma in Kosovo are Serbian Roma , polylingual Roma and Albanian Roma who self-identify as Ashkali or Balkan Egyptians...
and 30
BosniaksThe Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
, the municipality is ethnically homogeneous
Kosovo AlbanianAlbanians are the largest ethnic group in Kosovo . According to the 1991 Serbian census, boycotted by Albanians, there were 1,596,072 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo or 81.6% of population...
.
In Mars 2011 the pilot municipal unit of Đeneral Janković was established within the Kačanik municipality, holding approximately 10,000 out of the 33,454 total inhabitants.
History
An
epitaphAn epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
on a tombstone found in one grave from the 2nd century AD proves that inhabited localities existed in this region even in Antiquity. This grave was discovered in the early 1980s during the erection of the Shopping Mall in Kačanik. The artifact is now secure in the Kacanik Cultural Center.
The town was founded by Koxha Sinan Pasha, who erected the town
mosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
which exists even today, a public kitchen for the poor (
imaretAn imaret is one of a few names used to identify the Ottoman soup kitchens built throughout the Ottoman Empire from the 14th into the 19th century. These public kitchens were often part of a larger complex known as a Waqf, which could include hospices, mosques, caravanserais and colleges...
), a school near the mosque, two
hane (inns similar to
caravanseraiA caravanserai, or khan, also known as caravansary, caravansera, or caravansara in English was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey...
s), one Turkish bath (
hammamA Turkish bath is the Turkish variant of a steam bath, sauna or Russian Bath, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam....
), the town fortress and a few
millsA grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
on the
LepenacThe Lepenac is a river in southern Kosovo and northern Macedonia, a long left tributary to the Vardar river.- Sirinić :The Lepenac springs out on the Kodža Balkan mountain, east of the city of Prizren, Kosovo, at an altitude of . It flows eastward, into the župa of Sirinić, between the Žar...
river.
Kačanik became known administratively as a town by the end of 16th century, and up to year 1891 it was a part of the Ottoman
sanjakSanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
(second-level administrative unit) of Üsküb (
SkopjeSkopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
), known as "Nahije", which again belonged to the
Kosovo ProvinceThe Vilayet of Kosovo was a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula which included the current territory of Kosovo and the western part of the Republic of Macedonia...
of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. In 1878, Kačanik was intended to become a part of the
Principality of BulgariaThe Principality of Bulgaria was a self-governing entity created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The preliminary treaty of San Stefano between the Russian Empire and the Porte , on March 3, had originally proposed a significantly larger Bulgarian territory: its...
according to the
Treaty of San StefanoThe Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78...
, but per the Treaty of Berlin it was returned to the Ottomans.
Economy
Considering that through Kačanik runs the main roadway that connects
PristinaPristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
and
SkopjeSkopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
, as well as the railway
Kosovo PoljeKosovo Polje or Fushë Kosova is a town and municipality in the Pristina district of central Kosovo, at 42.63° North, 21.12° East, or approximately eight kilometres south-west of the capital Pristina...
-Thesaloniki (constructed in 1879) Kačanik is an important place and a strategic economic focal point.
The Kačanik municipality is mainly known for the production of construction materials at several area companies. But there are many well cultivated farmlands and areas well suited for the development of farms, apiculture, arboriculture as well as various craftsman and artisans. The area is especially well suited for the development of winter and summer tourism. The area boasts some spectacular views and the downtown is home to a bus station, a small radio station, the remains of a Turkish fort, several streets lined with shops, banks, several large modern restaurants, and a weekly farmers market for produce, livestock and housewares.
Kačanik has an old tradition in private manufactures, especially when it comes to the production of calcareous stone, wood for construction purposes and other services and artisan skills.
External links