Visiting Peja, Kosovo: Top Sights on Foot

Looking for things to do in Peja? This western Kosovo city brings together Ottoman urban heritage, Serbian Orthodox monuments and a history that reaches back to the Roman municipium of Siparantum. Its historic center is easy to explore on foot, while the surrounding Peja District adds important religious and cultural sites to the experience. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Peja with 7 narrated places.

What to See in Peja

Peja and its historic layers

Peja, also known as Pejë or Peć, is the administrative center of its municipality and region. Its story includes Roman foundations, the re-establishment of the settlement by Slavs after the migrations across the Balkans, and an important religious role from 1346, when Peja became a seat of the Orthodox Church.

The city later developed as İpek under Ottoman rule and became the center of the Sanjak of Dukagjin. Mosques and the čaršija, or bazaar, shaped its urban character. Peja also played a role in modern regional history as the center of the League of Peja, founded in 1899.

Bajrakli Mosque

Bajrakli Mosque stands in Peja’s old bazaar and dates from the fifteenth century. It was built in 1471 and is traditionally associated with Sultan Fatih Mehmet Han. Its name refers to the flag once displayed on its minaret to signal prayer time to the city’s other mosques.

The mosque has a prayer hall, a covered entrance porch and a minaret. A large dome rests on pendentives, while the porch has three smaller domes. Inside, the mihrab, minbar and mahfil are complemented by paintings of plant forms, geometric designs and Quranic quotations. Carved details are especially visible around the main portal and windows.

Bajrakli Mosque suffered serious damage in fires in 1943 and during the 1998 and 1999 war. It was restored after the war, preserving its place among Peja’s most important cultural monuments.

Hamam Mosque

The Hamam Mosque is another architectural heritage monument in Peja. Its recognition as a cultural heritage site reflects the importance of the historic building within the city’s religious and urban landscape.

Pehlivanit Mosque

Pehlivanit Mosque is also known as Pehlivan Mosque or Pelivani Mosque. Classified as an architectural heritage monument, it adds another layer to the historic character of Peja and its former bazaar area.

Medieval Monuments in Kosovo

The Medieval Monuments in Kosovo form a UNESCO World Heritage site made up of four Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries. Together, they show a meeting of Byzantine Eastern Orthodox architecture and Western Romanesque forms, a combination known as the Palaiologan Renaissance.

UNESCO first recognized Visoki Dečani in 2004 and expanded the designation in 2006 to include the other three monuments. The site was also placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of difficulties surrounding its management and preservation amid political instability in the region.

The Patriarchate of Peć is one of the most important parts of this ensemble. This Serbian Orthodox monastery consists of four interconnected churches built between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It served as a spiritual and administrative center of the Serbian Church and is known for its rich frescoes, distinctive architecture and continuing historical importance. The exact date of its foundation is unknown.

Church of Saint Jeremije in Goraždevac

Near Peja, in Goraždevac, the Church of Saint Jeremije is a small wooden Orthodox Serbian church and an important cultural heritage monument. Its simple timber construction gives it a distinctive character.

According to the supplied historical accounts, the church was built at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is described as the oldest wooden church of its kind in the region, while another tradition calls it the oldest wooden church in the Balkans. The sources also preserve differing accounts of its origins and date, including a tradition connecting its construction with the Srbljaci, described as the oldest tribe in the area. These conflicting traditions are part of the monument’s historical story.

Explore Peja with a self-guided walking tour

A Peja self-guided walking tour is a practical way to connect the city’s historic monuments without joining a group. Neywo’s walk, “Peja: Ottoman Bazaar and the Patriarchate,” covers 4.41 km in about 88 minutes and includes 5 narrated stops: Bajrakli Mosque, Hamam Mosque, Peja, Pehlivanit Mosque and the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. It is a free audio guide, with narration available in 11 languages.

Download Neywo and explore Peja at your own pace

Download Neywo to follow Peja’s one walking tour, “Peja: Ottoman Bazaar and the Patriarchate.” The route is 4.41 km long, takes about 88 minutes and includes 5 narrated stops. Neywo has 7 narrated places in Peja, and each story plays when you reach the site—so you can explore independently, without a group or a fixed schedule.

If you are planning a wider trip through Kosovo, you can also continue to Pristina, Gjakova or Prizren.