The story of Our Lady of Ljeviš

A verse by the Persian poet Hafez, written in Arabic script over a Christian fresco: this church carries layers of Prizren's history on its walls. Our Lady of Ljeviš was rebuilt and expanded in 1306/7 by King Stefan Milutin of Serbia on the site of an 11th-century Byzantine basilica, by the master builder Nicholas. He added two naves to the earlier three and crowned the church with five domes.

Its frescoes were painted by the Byzantine artists Michael and Eutychios Astrapas. Both Albanians and Serbs knew it as the church of Saint Paraskeva. In 1455 Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror visited Prizren and chose this church to become a mosque; a minaret was added and later removed in 1923. Roman-era stones, including part of an altar, are built into its walls.

After restoration in 1950–52 it became a museum. Badly damaged in the 2004 unrest, it has been under restoration since, and on 13 July 2006 it joined UNESCO's World Heritage List.