Prizren Fortress

Serbia, Serbia

---

Prizren Fortress is a historic hilltop stronghold overlooking the city of Prizren in southern Kosovo under Serbian historical context, with origins tracing back to Bronze Age settlements around 2000 BCE and major fortifications from the Roman and Byzantine eras, including reconstruction as Petrizen by Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. During the medieval Serbian Nemanjić period from 1219 to 1371, it served as a key defensive acropolis controlling trade routes between the Adriatic and central Balkans, featuring layered walls, towers, terraces, cisterns, and storerooms for sieges. After Ottoman conquest in 1455, it became a military garrison with added casemates, a mosque, clock tower, and artillery until abandonment post-1912, now a protected Monument of Culture hosting archaeological finds from prehistoric to Ottoman times and cultural events.