Historiography of the Kosovo Polje
In a historical-geographical sense, Kosovo Polje has a broader meaning, as it is a vast plain in the central part of the Kosovo basin, east of the river Sitnica and south of the Lab river, where the historic Battle of Kosovo took place.
Today, this area contains many very significant cultural and historical sites that authentically speak not only of the Battle of Kosovo and the events that preceded it, but also of the medieval Serbian state of the Nemanjić dynasty as a whole.
One of the capital sites from that time, built on the southern edge of Kosovo Polje, is the Gračanica Monastery, an endowment of King Milutin from 1315. As a building, Gračanica is architecturally one of the most significant monuments of the Serbian Middle Ages, mentioned in almost all anthologies of European architecture.
In the central part of Kosovo polje is the monumental Monument to the Kosovo Heroes. Slightly to the north, but in close proximity, are Gazimestan and Murat's Turbe (the place of the death of Sultan Murat and a high Turkish military commander from the time after the Battle of Kosovo), and right next to the river Sitnica is the large mining settlement of Obilić.
The monument is 25 meters high and dominates the vast Kosovo plain. Inside it, verses from epic folk songs describing the heroism of the participants in the Battle of Kosovo and their demise are inscribed in bronze letters on stone plaques.
On the barren land where Kosovo Polje is located, several other settlements have sprung up in the immediate vicinity: Obilić, Miloševo, and next to it Lazarevo, Dobrovo, Jugović, and a few smaller hamlets.
Kosovo Polje is a municipality in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, belonging to the Kosovo administrative district. It gained the status of a municipality in 1989 by separating 18 settlements from the urban area of Priština. In the municipality Kosovo Polje, there are the following settlements: Ariljača, Batusa, Bresje, Velika Slatina, Veliki Belaćevac, Vragolija, Gornje Dobrovo, Dobri Dub, Donje Dobrovo, Donji Grabovac, Ence, Kuzmin, Mala Slatina, Mali Belaćevac, Nakarade, Pomazatin, Uglares, and Kosovo Polje.
Kosovo Polje is located on the right bank of the river Sitnica, next to the most important railway and road junction in Kosovo and Metohija, in the fertile Kosovo basin at an altitude of 550 meters. It covers an area of 89 km², and the municipality has a population of nearly 40,000 inhabitants (since 1999, the majority of the population has been Serbs and Montenegrins, followed by Albanians, Roma, and others). It has a favourable geographical position, with Obilić and the rich Kosovo lignite mines to the north, and about eight kilometres to the northeast is the capital of Kosovo and Metohija, Priština.
Since the founding of Kosovo Polje, the feast of Saint Nicholas is celebrated every year. Since the church was still under construction, several thousand people would gather around the school. It was a grand assembly. Young people from neighboring and distant villages and cities would come. In 1938, the Church of St. Nicholas was built, thanks to voluntary contributions from the people of Kosovo Polje and their participation in the construction of the church. The church courtyard was a gathering place, where locals and newcomers competed in singing and dancing, and the assembly had significant events, on the one hand, people wanting to express their tradition, culture, and customs with melodies of old Kosovo, Montenegrin and narrower Serbian folklore. Folklore was presented in an appropriate way with beauty, expressed harmony, and melody of songs and dances.
Dances were predominant and everyone joined the kolo. On the other hand, a smaller number of activists controlled everything, influencing the suppression of the assembly, Serbian culture, and traditions, and adapting them to their own rules to please the current political top. Great efforts were made to erase the traces of Serbian culture and impose a new one that was anti-Serbian in any case, everything was allowed, but not Serbian. Of course, this remained only the desire of Serb-hating commanders. The formation of the KUD 'Branko Medenica' best preserves the folk tradition and Serbian folklore of this region. The Cultural Center 'Braća Krajionović' was a cultural temple for the people of Kosovo Polje, where youth dances took place every Saturday, attended by young people from the entire surrounding area. The dance started with a poskočica, followed by turning dances, modern music, and ending with traditional folk dances. It was unique, yet very popular.
Thus, Kosovo Polje expanded rapidly in all directions. Unfortunately, the Church of Saint Nicholas was desecrated by Albanians; they destroyed the icons in the church in March 2004. The Serbian school and the Higher Business School Saint Sava were burned, as was the Health Center in Kosovo Polje, the post office, and tens of thousands of Serbian houses in Kosovo Polje were burned. The schools "Aco Marović" and "Vuk Karadžić" were usurped.
Church of St. Catherine - Bresje
Today, Kosovo Polje has been completely transformed. With the help of occupiers led by America, Albanians formed a fund for the revival of Kosovo Polje with the desire to destroy everything Serbian and replace Serbian buildings with large buildings and business spaces. This has completely changed the appearance of the once beloved place of us, the people of Kosovo Polje, which still lives in our hearts. Kosovo Polje and Kosovo and Metohija in general are being forcibly taken away from Serbs, but we hope, with God's help, that the day will come when these injustices are corrected, when the Serbian word, the Serbian anthem, and the Serbian flag will be heard and seen again.
