Bus from ŠIBENIK to PRIŠTINA

Šibenik is the oldest self-contained Croatian city on the Adriatic, the capital city and the cultural, educational, administrative and economic center of the Šibenik-Knin County.

It is mentioned for the first time on Christmas in 1066 in the gift of Peter Kresimir IV, so it is also called Kresimir's city. By the mid-17th century, the plague epidemic was the largest city on the entire eastern coast of the Adriatic. Šibenik was de facto the capital of Croatia from December 1944 to May 1945. It is also important as the seat of the Croatian Navy.

Cathedral of St. Jakova in Šibenik is the most important construction work of the 15th and 16th centuries. on the ground of Croatia. Due to its exceptional value in 2000, it was incorporated into the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, which in 2017, on that list, was joined by the Fortress of St. Nicholas.

Sibenik is located at 43˚44 'north latitude and 15˚55 east longitude. The relief is characterized by a very indented coast, a wide belt of the hinterland of the Primorska-Dinaric karst of Zagora, a mountain-mountainous area with a bend Plavno and fertile fields in Karst, Knin, Kosovo and Petrovo polje and the northern bukovica Bukovica with Promin, the canyon of the Krka and Čikola rivers and Miljevci.

There is more explanation of how Sibenik got its name, and that in science no other interpretation of his name was accepted as safe and accurate. In his work, Juraj Šizgorić describes the name and position of Šibenik, which he states that the city is called because it is surrounded by tribes. The name Šibenik comes into contact with the forest through the Sibinicum toponyms, which is extracted from an augmentative late-valley, or ranoroan form of silvon, silvonae or silvona. The name of sibin covered the narrow micro-region of Šibenik, along and around the elevation where the fortress of St. Mihovila.

Turism has been developing constantly in Sibenik in recent years, and the number of guests is increasing every year from year to year. Most tourists who are on the Sibenik Riviera are staying in hotels in Solaris hotel complex or in several kilometers away to Vodice, Primosten, Rogoznica or on islands like Zlarin or Prvic.

Pristina, also spelled Prishtina or Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the homonymous municipality and district.

The city has a majority Albanian population, alongside other smaller communities. With a population of about 500,000, Pristina is the second-largest Albanian-speaking city in the world.  Geographically, it is located in the north-eastern part of Kosovo close to the Goljak mountains. The city is situated some 250 kilometres north-east of Tirana, 90 kilometres north of Skopje, 520 kilometres south of Belgrade and 300 kilometres east of Podgorica.

During the Paleolithic Age, what is now the area of Pristina was envolved by the Vinča culture. Pristina was home to several Illyrian and Roman people at the classical times. The king of the Dardanian Kingdom, Bardyllis brought various tribes together in the area of Pristina in the 4th century BC, establishing the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient city of Ulpiana, that was considered one of the most important Roman cities in the Balkan peninsula. In the middle ages, Pristina was an important town in Medieval Serbia and also the royal estate of Stefan Milutin, Stefan Uros III, Stefan Dusan, Stefan Uros V and Vuk Brankovic.

When the Ottomans conquered the Balkan peninsula, Pristina was classified as an important mining and trading center on the market, due to its strategic position near the rich mining town of Novo Brdo. The city was known for its trade fairs and items, such as goatskin and goat hair, as well as gunpowder produced by artisans from Pristina in 1485. The first mosque in Pristina was built in the late 14th century, while under the Serbian rule. Pristina has always been considered as a city where tolerance and coexistence in terms of religion and culture has been part of the society in the last centuries.

Being the capital city, Pristina is considered as the heart of Kosovo because of its central location and its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education, service, research and healthcare. Almost all domestic and foreign companies, media and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city.

The name of the city is derived from a Slavic form *Prišьčь, a possessive adjective from the personal name *Prišьkъ, (preserved in the Kajkavian surname Prišek, in the Old Polish personal name Parzyszek, and in the Polish surname Pryszczyk) and the derivational suffix -ina 'belonging to X and his kin'.[citation needed] The name is most likely a patronymic of the personal name *Prišь, preserved as a surname in Sorbian Priš, and Polish Przybysz, a hypocoristic of the Slavic personal name Pribyslavъ.

A false etymology[citation needed] connects the name Priština with the Serbian word prišt (пришт), meaning 'ulcer' or 'tumour', referring to its 'boiling'. However, this explanation cannot be correct, as Slavic place names ending in -ina corresponding either or both to an adjective or the name of an inhabitant lacking this suffix are built from personal names or denote a person and never derive, in these conditions, from common nouns (SNOJ 2007: loc. cit.). The inhabitants of this city call themselves Prishtinali in local Gheg Albanian or Prištevci (Приштевци) in the local Serbian dialect.

 

Pristina is the primary tourist destination in Kosovo as well as the main air gateway to the country.[58] It is known as a university center of students from neighbouring countries as Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. In 2012, Tourism in Pristina attracted 36,186 foreign visitors.[59] which represents 74.2%[60] Most foreign tourists come from Albania, Turkey, Germany, United States, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, with the number of visitors from elsewhere growing every year.[61]

The city has a large number of luxury hotels, modern restaurants, bars, pubs and very large nightclubs. Coffee bars are a representative icon of Pristina and they can be found almost everywhere. The largest hotels of the city are the Swiss Diamond and the Grand Hotel Prishtina situated in the heart of the city. Other major hotels present in Pristina include the Emerald Hotel, Sirius Hotel and Hotel Garden.

Some of the most visited sights near the city include the Batlava Lake and Marble Cave, which are also among the most visited places in country.[62] Pristina has played a very important role during the World War II, being a shelter for Jews, whose cemeteries now can be visited.

As the capital city of the Republic of Kosovo, it is the center of cultural and artistic development of all Albanians that lives in Kosovo. The Department of cultural affairs is just one of the segments that arranges the cultural events, which make Pristina one of the cities with the most emphasized cultural and artistic traditions. Pristina is home to the largest cultural institutions of the country, such as the National Theatre of Kosovo, National Archaeology, Ethnography and Natural science Museum, National Art Gallery and the Ethnological Museum. Among the local institutions are the National Library of Kosovo which has more than 1.8 million books, periodicals, maps, atlases, microfilms and other library materials.

There are many foreign cultural institutions in Pristina, including the Albanian Albanological Institute, the German Goethe-Institut and Friedrich Ebert Foundation.[ Other cultural centers in Pristina are, the French Alliance Française and the British Council. The Information Office of the Council of Europe was also established in Pristina.