Kaçanik (Albanian definite form: Kaçaniku) or Kačanik (Serbian Cyrillic: Качаник, pronounced [kâtʃaniːk]), is a town and municipality located in the Ferizaj District of southern Kosovo. According to the 2024 census, Kaçanik’s urban population, including the Bob, is approximately 10,000 while the municipality as a whole has 27,742 inhabitants.The municipality covers an area of 220 km2 (85 sq mi), including the town of Kaçanik and total of 31 settlements.
Name
The founder of the town Koxha Sinan Pasha called the town Kaçaniku.
In 1660, Ottoman writer and traveller Evliya Çelebi visited Kosovo and wrote that the town's name derived from the Ottoman Turkish word kaçanlar in reference to a group of Albanian bandits that operated in Üsküb and used the region of Kaçanik as a hideout.
History
Early history
The region of Kaçanik was one of the pathways, which were employed during Central European (akin to the Lusatian culture) migrations in the southern Balkans between 1200 and 1150 BCE. Roman era monuments include an altar that dates to 158–9 CE and is dedicated to a deity named Andinus (Deo Andino). The name Andinus appears among the central Illyrian and Dalmatian names, but the worship of Andinus seems to have been a local cult of southwestern Dardania as it doesn't appear in other parts of Illyria or the Roman Empire.
Middle Ages
After 9th century part of kingdom Raška and empire Serbia. Kaçanik was captured by the Ottomans in the 1420s. At that time Kaçanik was only a village registered by the Ottomans in 1455 defter as nahiyah.
Kaçanik was founded by Koca Sinan Pasha, who erected a tower, the town mosque which exists even today, a public kitchen for the poor (imaret), a school near the mosque, two hane (inns similar to caravanserais), one hammam (Turkish bathhouse), the town fortress called Llanishta Fortress and a few mills on the Lepenci river.
Kaçanik became known administratively as a town by the end of the 16th century, and up to year 1891 it was a part of the Ottoman Sanjak of Üsküb, which again belonged to the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.
Modern
On January 2, 1690 Albanian insurgents participated in a battle on the side of the Austrian forces fought against the Ottomans at the Valley of Kaçanik.
In 1878, Kaçanik was intended to become a part of the Principality of Bulgaria according to the Treaty of San Stefano, but per the Treaty of Berlin it was returned to the Ottomans.
During the Albanian Revolt of 1910, the area of Kacanik was the battlefield between Ottoman and Albanian forces.
After 1912 the town became part of the Kingdom of Serbia, and after 1918 part of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the first incarnation of Yugoslavia). From 1929 to 1941 Kaçanik was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
During World War II, from 1941 to 1945, the town became part of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. Albanians looted and demolished the Serbian church in the village.
In 1990, after the suspension of Kosovo's autonomy, the members of the Kosovan assembly gathered in the town and adopted the Kaçanik Constitution, based on which the Republic of Kosova was proclaimed in 1991.
During the Kosovo War, Yugoslav forces including the army, police and paramilitary groups carried out operations in the town that led to high numbers of civilian casualties and mass flights of civilians from Kaçanik.
Geography
Kaçanik is located in southeastern Kosovo, by the border with North Macedonia. It is situated in the Kaçanik Gorge, between the Sharr Mountains to the west and the Karadak Mountains to the east. Kaçanik lies along the Nerodime and Lepenc rivers, which they joined in the south of the town to continue to North Macedonia. The municipality borders the municipalities of Ferizaj to the north, Viti to the east, Hani i Elezit to the south, and Shtërpcë to the west.
Demographics
According to the last official census done in 2024, the urban population of Kaçanik has 9,653 inhabitants, while the municipality has 27,716 inhabitants. The municipality is ethnically homogeneous Albanian.
Economy
The municipality is known for the production of construction materials at several area companies. There are also many cultivated farmlands and areas suited for the development of farms, apiculture, arboriculture as well as various craftsman and artisans. The downtown area is home to a bus station, a small radio station, the remains of a Turkish fort, several streets lined with shops, banks, several restaurants, and a weekly farmers market for produce, livestock and housewares.
Kaçanik has an old tradition in private manufactures, especially when it comes to the production of calcareous stone, wood for construction purposes and other services and art
Villages
1 Urban settlement (the town of Kaçanik)
30 Rural settlements (villages)
Gallery
Culture
Sport
Sports teams
KF Lepenci is the men's football club in the town and they play their home matches at Besnik Begunca Stadium. KFF Bazeli 2015 is the women's football club in the town and they play in the top level of the women's football league in Kosovo.
Notable people
Ag Apolloni, writer
Adem Salihaj, politician
Arben Zharku, film producer
Driton Selmani, visual artist
Etnik Brruti, footballer
Jetmir Topalli, footballer
Jeton Neziraj, playwright
Ramize Gjebrea (1923–1944), World War II partisan, mother from Kaçanik
Sara Maliqi, footballer
Triumf Riza, police officer
Veton Tusha, footballer
Ylber Hysa, historian
Idriz Seferi, fighter
Albin Krasniqi, footballer
See also
Musa Kesedžija
Kaçanik Gorge
Sharr Mountains National Park
R 6 Motorway
Sinan Pasha Mosque (Kaçanik)
Bob, Kaçanik
References
External links
Municipality of Kaçanik
Kaçanik (In Albanian)
SOK Kosovo and its population
