Destruction of churches and church property on Kosovo in days of March Pogrom (March 17-19, 2004)

The photos show completely mined and destroyed church of St. Elias, near Bistrazin (Djakovica) which was only vandalized inside in 1999 but stood intact until March 17-19, when it was mined.

In Djakovica the old parish Church has been destroyed and both parish homes, and the material from the old home carried off; the wall around the church has been destroyed the Albanians are already parking their cars in the part of the churchyard next to the road. As we passed next to the new, now destroyed Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Djakovica we saw that all the debris had been removed a park created; all that remains is some of the smaller debris somewhere in the middle. We also saw in passing that the churches in Piskote (St. Lazarus) and Bistrazina on the hill (St. Elias) have been completely destroyed.

+ Bishop (retired) of Zahumlje-Herzegovina Atanasije