The Belgrade-based citizens’ association “Badnjak” has announced that it will organize a three-day pilgrimage from the Serbian capital to Kosovo on September 26, 27 and 28. During the trip, participants are expected to visit churches, monasteries and settlements where Serbs live.
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The program begins on the first day with visits to the church in Babin Most, the monasteries of Sushica and Gračanica, as well as the church in Ferizaj. The group will then travel to Hoça e Madhe, where it will visit the Church of St. Archdeacon Stephen. A group dinner is also planned in this locality, while the pilgrims will spend the night with local families.
On Sunday, September 27, participants will attend a liturgy in Rahovec. After it concludes, they will continue to Prizren, where they will stop at the Church of St. Paraskeva, the Cathedral of St. George and the Orthodox Seminary of Prizren.
The Prizren itinerary will be followed by a visit to the Monastery of the Holy Archangels. The group is also scheduled to have dinner and spend the night at the monastery.
In the early hours of September 28, the pilgrims will depart for the Deçan Monastery, where they will attend a liturgy. They will then visit the Patriarchate of Peja and the church in Vitomirica, while their return to Belgrade is scheduled for late in the evening.
According to the organizers’ announcement, the trip will cost 90 euros per person. The same announcement also mentions a humanitarian component, but does not specify what it will include.
Pilgrimage trips from Serbia to Orthodox churches and monasteries in Kosovo take place regularly. An article published by KoSSev notes that demand for such multi-day itineraries is high and that some organizers schedule several dates throughout the year.
So far, “Badnjak” has not clarified whether it will hire a tour guide licensed by the authorities of the Republic of Kosovo for this visit.
Since August 1, Kosovo’s institutions have begun implementing the Law on Tourism. Among other things, the law requires a guide licensed by the authorities of the Republic of Kosovo to be present during every tourist visit, even if the organizers have hired a “foreign” guide.
“Kosovo’s Law on Tourism stipulates that a foreign guide who is not registered in Kosovo may accompany a foreign group as a tour escort, but while providing guiding services, they must be accompanied by a guide registered in Kosovo. The law does not stipulate that a religious pilgrimage in itself is considered a tourist guiding service,” the law states, according to KosovaPress.
Kosovo regulations tie the licensing requirement to the provision of a professional tourist guiding service. At the same time, priests, monks and religious representatives who accompany believers as part of their spiritual role are not considered tour guides solely because they accompany them.
Nevertheless, the issue has prompted strong reactions, including from the highest levels of the Serbian state and from the Orthodox Church. Representatives of the latter have said that visits by believers to monasteries should not be treated as commercial tourist tours, as these are places of worship, prayer and monastic life.
