Novo Brdo Fortress

Novo Brdo stands on a volcanic hill east of Pristina, the fortress of a medieval town that grew rich on silver and gold and was one of the most important mining centres in the Balkans in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with Saxon miners, Ragusan merchants and its own mint. The Ottomans took it in 1455 and it declined. The walls and towers have been partly restored. At its height the town is thought to have held several thousand people, which for the fifteenth-century Balkans was substantial.

What you actually see

• The hilltop walls - the fortress circuit on its volcanic cone.
• The mining history - the silver and gold that made the town rich.
• The restored towers - the sections rebuilt in recent work.
• The wide view - the country around from the fortress walls.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. The site is open ground and accessible year round. Winter can be cold and windy on the hill.

Honest expectations

Little survives of the town below the fortress and interpretation is limited. The restoration is visible and recent. There are no facilities on site.

Nearby

Pristina is west, and Gadime is southwest.