PRITINA

city, capital and administrative centre of the Kosovo autonomous region of the republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia. It is linked to Skopje, Macedonia, by road and rail and, via Kraljevo, to Belgrade, and it has an airport. Near Pritina, lead, silver, and zinc are mined in the Kopaonik Mountains. Pritina 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 north of Pritina. The city retains an Oriental appearance, though much new building has occurred since 1945. The Museum of Kosovo-Metohija has an archaeology collection, a Serbian medieval-art department, and an ethnography section. Pritina is the site of a university (1970) and is a cultural centre for the Albanians of Kosovo. There are Albanian-language newspapers and radio programs. Pritina has a diversified industrial base: woodworking, textiles, food processing, metal goods, and pharmaceuticals. Southeast of the city is the Gracanica Monastery, built in 1313-21 by King Milutin, a fine work of Serbian architecture containing valuable frescoes. Pop. (1991) 155,499.