VOJINOVIĆ DUNGEON

This 14th-century keep (Kulla e Vjetër, Vojinovića kula) is the main remnant of the medieval walls of Vushtrria/Vučitrn. Superbly restored in 2014, it now houses an uninteresting restaurant, but its courtyard remains freely accessible. The keep dominates a 30-meter square enclosure whose walls still reach up to 6 meters in height. The tower itself also has a square shape with 11.30 m sides. Its 3-4 m thick walls rise to 8 m in height on two floors, which are now equipped with an interior staircase and a small panoramic structure at the top, 10 m high. On the outside, the walls of the keep preserve traces of machicolations and bolt holes (openings used to lay the main beams of the interior framework), but also of metal pieces that were used to stretch a canvas for film projections between 1958 and 1962. The fortress was built by the Serbian noble family Vojinović in the 14th century. It was built on the site of seventh-century Byzantine fortifications, which were themselves probably built on an older structure.

Rehabilitation and shenanigans. Residence of the Serbian vassal of the Ottomans Đurađ Branković (1427-1456), this castle was then a prestigious place, frequented by merchants from Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Venice. When the city came under direct Ottoman control in 1455, the walls were dismantled and only the keep and its courtyard remained. These were then used successively as garrison, granary and armory. After the departure of the Ottomans in 1912, the complex was used as a prison in the 1920s, then as a cinema. A first restoration was carried out in the 1970s. Almost spared by the last war, the keep was the subject of a superb rehabilitation in 2013-2014 with the addition of modern and light elements that did not distort the remains - a rare thing in this country where there is a tendency to rebuild just to "look old". The work, funded by international aid, was to be used to transform the keep into a cultural center. But in 2017, the project was hijacked by the mayor of the city who decided to entrust the monument to his brother to transform it into a restaurant. The NGOs that had financed the construction and the historians are furious, but the government assures that everything is legal. In short, welcome to the management of historical heritage in the Kosovar way. Not very appetizing, like the restaurant that occupies the premises, by the way.