page_title: 2004 unrest in Kosovo
section_title: Destroyed churches
hierarchical_section_title: 2004 unrest in Kosovo / Destroyed churches
caption_attribution_description: English: The Church of Saint Elijah (Serbian: Црква светог Илије, Crkva svetog Ilije), also known as Saint Andrew's Church, is а Serbian Orthodox church located on a small hill near the city of Podujevo, It was destroyed by Albanians during the expulsion of Serbs from Kosovo in march 2004. Српски / srpski: Црква Светог Илије у Подујеву, Косово, Србија. Уништена од стране косовских Албанаца за време мартовског погрома 2004.
context_page_description: 2004 unrest in Kosovo is the worst ethnic violence case in Kosovo since the end of the 1999 conflict erupted in the partitioned town of Mitrovica, leaving hundreds wounded and at least 14 people dead. The unrest was precipitated by misleading reports in the Kosovo Albanian media which falsely claimed that three Kosovo Albanian boys had drowned after being chased into the Ibar River by a group of Kosovo Serbs. UN peacekeepers and NATO troops scrambled to contain a raging gun battle between Serbs and ethnic Albanians. In Serbia the events were also called the March Pogrom, while in Kosovo they are called The March Unrest.
  International courts in Pristina have prosecuted several people who attacked several Serbian Orthodox churches, handing down jail sentences ranging from 21 months to 16 years. Most of the churches have since been rebuilt by the Government of Kosovo in cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church and the UN mission in Kosovo.
context_section_description: In an urgent appeal, issued on 18 March by the extraordinary session of the Expanded Convocation of the Holy Synod of Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), it was reported that a number of Serbian churches and shrines in Kosovo had been damaged or destroyed by rioters. At least 30 sites were completely destroyed, more or less destroyed, or further destroyed (sites that had been previously damaged). Apart from the churches and monasteries, tens of support buildings (such as parish buildings, economical buildings and residences) were destroyed, bringing the number close to 100 buildings of the SPC destroyed. 
  All churches and objects of the SPC in Prizren were destroyed. The list includes several UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Among those destroyed and damaged were:
  St Elijah's Church in Podujevo destroyed and desecrated, coffins from the nearby Serbian cemetery were dug up, and bones of the dead were scattered away.
  Skenderaj: Devič Monastery in Drenica, nuns evacuated by Danish soldiers, monastery pillaged and torched, the tomb of St Joannicius of Devič was desecrated.
  Our Lady of Ljeviš  in Prizren from 1307 (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
  the Church of Holy Salvation in Prizren, destroyed by vandals after German KFOR troops had left the site.
  Church of St George in Prizren (the city's largest church)
  Church of St George in Prizren (Runjevac)
  Church of St. Kyriaki, Church of St Nicolas (Tutić Church) in Prizren
  the Monastery of The Holy Archangels in Prizren as well as
  Prizren's Orthodox seminary of Saint Cyrillus and Methodius in Prizren
  HRW lists 27 Orthodox churches and monasteries burned and looted.
caption: Serbian Orthodox church of St. Elijah in Podujevo destroyed in 2004 unrest by Kosovo Albanians
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