Kacanik

in Kacanik

Kačanik - this city, which is also the center of the municipality of the same name, is located in the southeastern part of Kosovo and Metohija, at the very confluence of the Nerodimka and Lepenac rivers. Kačanik belongs to the Kosovo administrative district, on the stretch that connects Skopje and Pristina near the General Janković border crossing. During the Turkish rule, the name Kačanik did not refer only to the inhabited place but to the entire area that included the village, the strait and then "Orhanija Nahija" because at that time the official name of Kačanik was Orhanie. However, in the vernacular as well as in folk poetry, this place is referred to as Klisura Kačanik or Old Kačanik. According to the oldest records, Kačanik has existed since the 14th century, when a small town and a settlement grew up around the Serbian fortress in that area. During the Turkish rule, this area did not lose its importance because the Ottomans rebuilt the fortress in the 16th century and used it for their own needs, turning the city into their administrative center of great importance. Today it is believed that the name of the place "Kačanik" came from the Turkish term "kacak" which means robber. Allegedly, it got that name because, in addition to everything else, the town became a breeding ground for robbers in the 16th century. In recent times, this small town still preserves a few important sights and monuments from this era, including the remains of the fortress itself, the church of St. Prophet Elijah and the mosque built in the 16th century.