![The Museum of Kosovo-Metohija, Prišstina.[Credits : Agim Zeka]](http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/04/124104-003-1B978CB3.gif)
city, capital and administrative centre of Kosovo. It is linked to Skopje, Maced., by road and rail and, via Kraljevo, Serb., to the Serbian capital of Belgrade; it also has an airport. Near Priština, lead, silver, and zinc are mined in the Kopaonik Mountains.
Priština was the capital of the Serbian state before the Turks defeated the Balkan Christian armies in 1389 at the Battle of Kosovo, which was fought on the Kosovo Plain west of Priština. The city retains an Oriental appearance, though much new building has occurred since 1945. The Museum of Kosovo-Metohija has an archaeology collection and an ethnography section. Priština is the site of a university (1970) and is a cultural centre for ethnic Albanians.
Southeast of the city is the Gračanica Monastery, built in 1313–21 by King Milutin, a fine work of Balkan architecture containing valuable frescoes. Parts of the city were damaged in the 1990s by fighting, including NATO bombing, and in 2004 by ethnic violence, but it was mostly spared, compared with other cities in Kosovo. Pop. (2003) 165,844.
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