The locality of Dresnik is made with a conservation plan, that of management in the spring

Since September last year - with the help of the Embassy of the United States of America - attention has been turned to this locality, neglected for several years. The locality of the first centuries AD located near Klina has recently been expropriated, which has opened the way for even more investments. According to the work being done, it is expected that this space will be one of the most attractive in terms of cultural heritage. One of the localities with the most potential in the country, has been created with a conservation plan

The archaeological site of Dresnik, one of the most potential ones in the country, has been created with a conservation plan. In the spring, it is thought to have the management plan, in order to continue the work with conservation, excavation and creation of access for visitors. Since September last year - with the help of the Embassy of the United States of America - attention has been turned to this locality, neglected for several years.  The locality of the first centuries AD located near Klina has recently been expropriated, which has opened the way for even more investments. According to the work being done, it is expected that this space will be one of the most attractive in terms of cultural heritage.

At the end of last week, the Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, visited this locality. He announced that this area is being treated in cooperation with the United States of America.

"To this very important locality, in addition to protection through professional conservation, we are also adding the management plan, the access plan and the presentation, so that it is attractive for visitors and in the service of the tourism of the area", he announced. He added that this is a way in which cultural heritage can increase the local economy, "transforming this space full of history into a cultural and touristic destination of the country".

The archeologist of the Archaeological Institute of Kosovo, Elvis Shala, led the works in that locality. Now together with the staff of the Kosovar foundation for cultural heritage without borders, "CHwB Kosova" are working for the future of this area.

He has shown that first the recording of the existing condition of the terrain was done and based on this condition, a detailed report of the condition was prepared.

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"Based on these, the conservation project was worked on and now the management plan is being worked on. Now we are also working on the accessibility plan for the museum, the working spaces for archaeologists, the spaces for visitors, the paths, the protective construction for the mosaic, the information boards and others", he said. According to Shala, it is expected that in April the management plan will be submitted for the approval procedure.

Previously, in August of this year, the Government authorized payments for the expropriation of this locality and that of Ulpiana.

This decision of the Government has been seen as very important for the archaeological site, which since 2016 has been included in the Heritage List under permanent protection with a perimeter of 16.72 hectares. The protected area is 64 hectares. But nationalization captures a little more than ten percent of this space.

"It is the most important step so far in archeology", said Shala about the expropriation of 7.8 hectares.

The process of expropriation of the locality started a day after the signing of the agreement between the US Embassy in Kosovo and the Ministry of Culture, which returned the attention to Dresnik. The agreement was signed on September 26 of last year, while the Government decision that paved the way for expropriation was voted on the 27th of that month.

It was the US funds that have brought back attention to Dresnik, forgotten since 2019. The co-financing memorandum to support the project "Preservation of the archaeological site of Dresnik" provides 150 thousand dollars (141 thousand and 849 euros) within the Fund of Ambassador for Cultural Heritage. On the other hand, the Ministry of Culture has allocated 51 euros.

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According to the plan, the project will last from September of this year until June of 2025. The Archaeological Institute of Kosovo and the Cultural Heritage Foundation without Borders "CHwB Kosovo" are the implementing partners.

TIME sources had indicated that the expropriation was a condition of the US Embassy to finance the project.

Expropriation in Dresnik, which extended to private properties, has been a topic since the unique mosaic came to light in 2013, when the works were published by the now retired archaeologist, Masar Valla. At that time, one of the owners of the land of the find that became a world sensation would be willing to submit her property to the expropriation process. Slagjana Shmilić, together with her husband, Desko Srblak, had said that they would comply with the laws in force in Kosovo for the expropriation of their land.

According to the Law on Cultural Heritage, it is the Kosovo Council for Cultural Heritage that determines the monetary value of the expropriation.

The expropriation of such properties is also determined by the Law on Expropriations of Immovable Properties. According to Article 3.4 of this law, expropriation can be done for "the protection of cultural heritage monuments and places of archaeological, historical or scientific importance, but only if the place has been legally defined as such by a resolution of the Assembly". This law also defines another reason that property should be subject to expropriation.

"If the owner of the immovable property in which the monument or the place is located refuses to protect it or due to objective impossibility he cannot protect the monument or the place", he writes in the following article.

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The archaeological site of Dresnik, about 1.5 kilometers east of the city of Klina, is considered by the Kosovo Council for Cultural Heritage to be one of the most important archaeological sites not only in Kosovo, but also in the region. In the excavations of the years 2012-2015, several architectural monuments were identified, of which the Aula with large dimensions stands out.

"This type of Aule can only belong to the palaces of that time. In addition to the size of the building, this monument stands out because of the polychrome mosaic floors. The palace is located in the center of this locality and also identified the surrounding wall with a width of 3,7 meters and 3 towers that are characterized by the size and thickness of the walls. Inside the walls, a residential complex was also found, in which traces of wall paintings of hypocausts were identified, which prove the high social, economic and artistic level of the residents of this complex", the description reads. Also, many coins of different Roman emperors of the XNUMXrd and XNUMXth centuries have been found, as well as some fragments of statues made of marble.