SUHAREKA/SUVA REKA MUSEUM

This municipal museum (Muzeu i Suharekës, Muzej Suve Reke) contains little of interest, but here you can find information for visiting the many archaeological sites in the area. It is housed in an amazing structure: a 19th-century stone house enclosed in a vast framework of concrete and steel bars. It was established in 2012 with German aid to compensate for the closure that year of the nearby Casablanca military base (800 m to the south), which had been occupied since 1999 by a contingent of German KFOR soldiers. The museum houses mainly temporary exhibitions of the city's schools as well as a permanent exhibition on the war in Kosovo (1998-1999). Rare ancient objects are presented: a Doric capital, a beautiful Roman stele placed under a large red flag of the KLA, or a bust of an ancient female statue uncovered during the construction of the recent City Mosque (Xhamia e Qytetit, Gradska džamija) located in the same street, 700 m northeast.

Archaeological sites. All the objects found in the nearby archaeological sites are now on display in the Museum of Kosovo in Pristina. One of the most important sites for the history of the country is that of Hisar, which was occupied from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. Not much is visible on site, but it is very close to the museum, 500 m southwest to the right along the M25 (GPS: 42.351007, 20.817190). A little further, still on the right side of the M25, you can see the small Shikora/Široko mounds, 1.1 km south of the museum (GPS: 42.345058, 20.816829). They were erected between the 8th and 6th centuries B.C. and have yielded numerous jewels of the Dardanian culture as well as tableware imported from Greece. Still further south towards Prizren, the Gjinoc/Đinovce tumulus is the largest in the country: 9.80 m high and 84 m in diameter. It is hidden in a small forest, less than 200 m to the left of the M25, 3.6 km south of the museum (GPS: 42.327081, 20.812880). But it is 10 km northwest of Suhareka/Suva Reka that the best preserved remains are found, those of the Kastërc/Kostrce site (GPS: 42.412594, 20.784012). It covers 500^m2 and was occupied from the Bronze Age to the Byzantine period. One can see the foundations of ancient fortifications as well as the base of a Paleochristian church unearthed in 2011.