Gjakova, in western Kosovo
The reconstructed library at the Hadum Mosque (Xhamia e Hadumit), part of what used to be a complex with a madrasah, a library and shops that were destroyed in 1999 when Serb police and the paramilitary began to set fire around the mosque complex: the library, the religious school, the wooden portico were burned down, and the mosque’s minaret was shot off. The library used to contain books and manuscripts that were hundreds of years old. These manuscripts contained the history of the mosque. In 2000 the Saudi Joint Relief Committee bulldozed the damaged library and religious school, aiming to build a new religious centre, but this stopped in 2002 and in 2003 Cultural Heritage without Borders took over the restoration of the Hadum Mosque and the building of the library. This processes finished in 2005.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers, Tue Oct 16, 2018