First phase of reconstruction process successfully completed

KiM Info Newsletter 25-12-05 www.kosovo.com

Reconstruction Implementation Commission for Orthodox Religious Sites in
Kosovo

PRESS RELEASE

21 December 2005

The Reconstruction Implementation Commission (RIC) announces the completion
of the works of protection and consolidation carried out in 30 Orthodox
religious sites damaged in March 2004. The RIC considers that it has fully
achieved its goal of protecting the sites against further deterioration
before the arrival of winter.

The RIC began work in June 2005 as a result of an agreement between the
Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and the Provisional Institutions of Self
Government (PISG) to repair Orthodox sites damaged in March 2004. The PISG
has funded interventions at all sites except the Church of St Nicholas in
Prizren, which was supported by a generous donation from the US office.

Temporary roof over the burned church of St. Nicholas in Pristina

Between June and September 2005, the RIC prepared and tendered emergency
interventions for 30 sites, which began implementation in October 2005. More
extensive works of reconstruction and preservation will proceed in 2006. As
part of a long-term conservation programme, the RIC organized an expert
mission to survey wall paintings within the damaged sites.

The RIC is headed by an international expert, Ms. Emma Carmichael, appointed
by the Council of Europe (CoE) and includes representatives from the
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS), the SOC and the Institutions
for the Protection of Monuments of Kosovo and Belgrade.

International partners, the CoE, UNMIK and the European Commission, have
expressed their satisfaction not only with the concrete work of the RIC, but
also with the outstanding collaboration demonstrated by PISG in Kosovo, SOC,
Institutions in Serbia as well as by the Albanian, Serbian and international
professionals and institutions who have made this work possible. The RIC has
proven to be the most effective mechanism of cooperation between the various
stakeholders in the field of cultural heritage in Kosovo and all local and
international partners have fully committed to continuing the works in 2006.

SUMMARY OF INTERVENTIONS CARRIED OUT DURING 2005

. Protective fences were placed in the churches of St. Petka in Donja
Sipasnica, Presentation of the Virgin and St. Florus and Laurus in Lipljian.

. Protection measures and consolidation of remains in the sites of the
destroyed churches of St. Elias in Bistazin, Assumption of the Holy Virgin
in Djakovica and the cemetery chapel of St. Lazar in Piskote, where a large
number of graves were also repaired.

. Further extensive protection measures, including provisional coverings,
were also made in the churches of St. Nicholas in Pristina, Cathedral of St.
George in Prizren and St. Elias in Vucitrn. Extensive interventions in these
churches is programmed for 2006.

. Minor repairs in the churches of St. Petka in Vitina, St. Michael in
Obilic, St. Nicholas in Kosovo Polje, Holy King Uros in Urosevac and St.
Michael in Stimlje have been completed.

. Major consolidation and stabilization works have been carried out in the
churches of the Holy Virgin Ljeviska, St Nicholas (Tutic's), St George
(Runovic's), St. Saviour and St. Kyriake in Prizren, St. Joanikije at Devic,
Presentation of the Holy Virgin in Belo Polje, St. Sava in Mitrovica and St.
Andrew in Podujevo. Internal and external repairs will be continued during
next year.

. Churches and cemeteries repaired in the sites of St. Peter and Paul in
Talinovac, St. Elias in Varosh Selo and Serbian town Cemetery and Chapel in
Urosevac.

. Complete reconstruction works were done in the churches of the Birth of
the Holy Virgin in Softovic, St. Peter and Paul in Istog, St. John the
Baptist in Pec and the refectory of the church of St. Kyriake in Brnjaca.