Djokic: Gracanica has the most visitors for Vidovdan, tensions affect devotional trips

The director of the Gracanica Tourist Organization, Sandra Djokic, told for Kosovo Online that the tensions in the north have a negative impact on the number of tourists visiting Serbian holy places in Kosovo during the year, but that specifically the conflict in Banjska did not excessively affect visitors in its municipality, given that the accident happened at the end of the tourist season.

"Certainly, there is a possibility that the riots in the north of Kosovo in September affected tourism, but those events were at the end of the season, so we cannot say with certainty that that event caused less interest among visitors. Like any other tension that is felt in the north or in general in Kosovo and Metohija, it is certainly reflected in the number of tourists who come to Kosovo," said Djokic.

Djokic points out that the largest number of believers visit Gracanica during the Christian holidays, and that this year, as was the case in previous years, the most guests arrived on the occasion of Vidovdan.

"The number of tourists certainly increases when it comes to church holidays, so the number of tourists is the highest in Gracanica for Vidovdan (a Serbian national and religious holiday). Vidovdan is celebrated on June 28 in Gracanica, and that's when we achieve the highest number of visitors and overnight stays throughout the year. We can say that the number of tourists increases when the holidays are celebrated that are related to the Gracanica monastery, our biggest tourist attraction but also our biggest cultural and historical wealth that we have here," she emphasized.

According to her, fans of religious tourism and devotional trips, in addition to the Gracanica monastery, showed great interest in the monastery of St. Dimitrije in Susica, as well as in other churches and monasteries in the area.

In addition to the Gracanica monastery and other holy places, the archeological site of Ulpiana, which is a kilometer from the municipality, but with numerous cultural manifestations, is also attractive to tourists, she adds.

"In terms of attendance, the first place is the Gracanica monastery, which is on the UNESCO list of cultural heritage, then the monastery of St. Dimitri in Susica, and the interesting church of St. Dimitri in Dobrotin, which has a specific appearance, was dug into the ground, and was created during the Turkish occupation", says Djokic.