Suva Reka

For other uses, see Theranda (disambiguation).

Town and municipality in Prizren, Kosovo

Suva Reka

* Suharekë or Therandë (Albanian)
Сува Река or Suva Reka (Serbian)

Town and municipality

From the top, View of Suhareka, Xhamia e Qytetit, Suva Reka Bus station

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Suva Reka

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Coordinates: 42°22′48″N 20°49′19″E﻿ / ﻿42.38000°N 20.82194°E﻿ / 42.38000; 20.82194
Location| Kosovo
District| Prizren
Government

• Mayor| Bali Muharremaj (AAK)
Area

• Municipality| 361 km2 (139 sq mi)
• Rank| 12th in Kosovo
Elevation

| 389 m (1,276 ft)
Population

(2011)

• Urban

| 10,422
• Municipal

| 59,722
Time zone| UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)| UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code|

23000

Area code| +383 29
Car plates| 04
Climate| Cfb
Website| kk.rks-gov.net/suhareke

Suva Reka (Serbian Cyrillic: Сува Река) or Suharekë (Albanian definite form: Suhareka) or Therandë (Albanian definite form: Theranda) is a town and municipality located in the Prizren district of central-southern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town has 10,422 inhabitants, while the municipality has 59,722 inhabitants.

Suva Reka is located 18 km (11 mi) from the city of Prizren, and 57 km (35 mi) from Kosovo's capital, Pristina.

## Name[edit]

Suva Reka means "dry river" in Serbian. The Albanian spellings are Suharekë[1] or Suhareka (derived from the Slavic form), while an alternative[2] name was recently created by the Albanological Institute,[3] Therandë,[4] adopted from an unlocated ancient site (possibly in Suhareka or Lubizhda in the Mirusha valley[5]).[6]

## History[edit]

### Historical background[edit]

The municipality includes several medieval Serbian sites and old settlements, such as the villages of Banja, Suva Reka, Dulje, Mušutište, Popovljane, Rečane, Suva Reka, and churches of Virgin Hodegetria, St. George, Holy Trinity, St. Nicholas, among others. The settlement of Theranda itself was first mentioned in 1465.

### Ottoman period[edit]

In 1651, the Albanian Catholic Gregor Mazrreku reported that all the men in Suharekë (Suva Reka), where there had been previously 160 Catholic households, had converted to Islam, but that about 36 or 37 of their wives remained Catholic.[7]

### Yugoslav period[edit]

From 1929 to 1941, Suva Reka was a town part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Between 1918 and 1941 the demographic structure of the municipality of Suva Reka has been affected by settlements and colonization such as the Serbian colonization and population settlement, for the most part from the Toplica District.[8]

On the night of 9–10 June 1984, ethnic Albanians desecrated 29 tombstones of the Church of the Holy Saviour.[9][10]

### Kosovo War and aftermath[edit]

During the Kosovo War (1998–99), the Yugoslav army operated in the region and it was reported that it had killed and wounded many Albanian civilians. According to the Suhareka office of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms, 430 people were killed in the municipality and 67 people were missing as of late August 1999.

The Suhareka massacre conducted on 26 March 1999 committed by Serbian police officers resulted in 48 victims, fourteen of which were under 15 years old. 46 members of the victims were part of the Berisha family who were targeted because they had rented one of their homes to the OSCE observers in Suva Reka, who provided a sense of security to the local Albanians but withdrew from the area when NATO bombing began.[citation needed] After the slight withdrawal of the OSCE, incidences[spelling?] of abuse increased around late March, specifically with the beating and the harassment of ethnic Albanians residents by the Serbian police. Consequently, tensions soon increased after at least seven ethnic Albanians were killed by police or disappeared in unclear circumstances.

According to the OSCE, killings of smaller numbers of people also took place in the following villages: Bukos (Bukosh), Budakovo (Budakove), Vranic (Vraniq), Geljance (Gelanc), Sopina (Sopine), Mus-utiste (Mushtishte), and Lesane (Leshane).

After the war, Serbian heritage was destroyed all over Kosovo. The churches (including cemeteries) of Virgin Hodegetria, St. George, Holy Trinity, St. Nicholas and others were completely destroyed in 1999 after the arrival of KFOR and the end of the war.[11]

NATO set up a military base in the municipality, Camp Casablanca.

## Culture[edit]

### Churches[edit]

* Church of the Virgin Hodegetria, Mušutište, built 1315, destroyed 1999
* Church of St. George, Rečane, built in the 14th century, destroyed 1999
* Church of the Holy Trinity, Mušutište, built before 1465, destroyed 1999
* Church of the Holy Saviour, Mušutište, built in 1465, destroyed 1999
* Church of St. Nicholas, Popovljane, built in 1626, destroyed 1999
* Church of Archangel Michael, Dvorane, built in the 19th century, destroyed 1999
* Church of the Holy Saviour, Dvorane, built in the 19th century, destroyed 1999
* Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, Suva Reka, built 1938, destroyed 1999
* Church of St. Parasčeva, Mušutište, built 1973, destroyed 1999

## Demographics[edit]

Municipal historical population| Year| Pop.| ±% p.a.

|
|

1948| 27,044| —
1953| 30,184| +2.22%
1961| 34,729| +1.77%
1971| 45,316| +2.70%
1981| 59,434| +2.75%
1991| 72,229| +1.97%
2011| 59,722| −0.95%
2016
est.| 59,681| −0.01%
Source: Division of Kosovo

According to the 2011 census done by the Government of Kosovo, the municipality of Suva Reka had 59,722 inhabitants of which 98.9% were Kosovo Albanians.[12] According to OSCE, the whereabouts of the displaced Serb and Roma communities is unknown.[12]

## Twin towns – Sister cities[edit]

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Kosovo

Suva Reka is twinned with:

* Sarandë, Albania
* Fellbach, Germany[13]
* Lilburn, United States[14]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Suhareke". kk.rks-gov.net. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
2. ^ Robert Elsie (15 November 2010). Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Scarecrow Press. pp. 298–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7483-1.
3. ^ Saskia Drude (2008). Hundert Wochen Kosovo: Alltag in einem unfertigen Land. Karin Fischer Verlag. pp. 99–. ISBN 978-3-89514-836-1.
4. ^ Elsie,R. (2010-11-15). Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Scarecrow Press. p. 268\. ISBN 9780810874831.
5. ^ Arheološko blago Kosova i Metohije: Text. Srpska Akademija nauka i umetnosti. 1998. p. 286.
6. ^ Andreas Wittkowsky (2011). Grand Hotel Kosovo: Schlaglichter einer europäischen Staatsbildung (in German). LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-3-643-11425-9.
7. ^ Rebels, Believers, Survivors Studies In The History Of The Albanians Malcolm Noel ( 2020) p. 62
8. ^ "Kolonizimi serb i Kosovës" (in Albanian). 9 Jan 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-01-09..
9. ^ "Вапаји Са Метохије И Косова". Православље (in Serbian) (429). 1 February 1985. Archived from the original on 2011-11-27. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
10. ^ Antonije Isaković (1990). "Kosovsko-metohijski zbornik". SANU: 84. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
11. ^ "Destroyed and Damaged Cultural Properties in Kosovo and Metohija 1994-2004" (PDF). Municipality of Dečani. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
12. ^ a b "MUNICIPAL PROFILE 2018 - PRIZREN REGION - SUHAREKË/SUVA REKA". Retrieved 2023-08-17.
13. ^ "Komuna Suhareke - Suhareka & Fellbach". kk.rks-gov.net. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
14. ^ "Lilburn Becomes a 'Sister City' With Kosovo Town". patch.com. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2018.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Suva Reka.

* Municipality of Suva Reka
* OSCE municipal profile of Suva Reka
* SOK Kosovo and its population
* [1]

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Municipalities of Kosovo

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District of Prizren|

* Dragash
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Settlements in Suva Reka

Settlements|

* Belanica
* Bllacë
* Budakovo
* Bukoš
* Čajdrak
* Delovce
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* Dobrodeljane
* Donja Krušica
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* Dulje
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* Geljance
* Gornja Krušica
* Grejkovce
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* Guncat
* Javor
* Kostrce
* Kravoserija
* Ladrovac
* Ladrović
* Lešane
* Lužnica
* Mačitevo
* Movljane
* Mušutište
* Neprebište
* Nišor
* Papaz
* Pećane
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* Raštane
* Rečane
* Savrovo
* Samodraža
* Selogražde
* Semetište
* Senik
* Slapužane
* Sopina
* Stara Vučina
* Studenčane
* Suva Reka
* Topličane
* Trnje
* Tumičina
* Vranić
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