KOSOVO POLJE MONUMENT
(Battlefield of Blackbird)

Kosovo Field (or Kosovo Polje) is the site of a famous battle in 1389 that the Serbs regard as the tragic demise of their mediaeval flowering. If all this seems a little remote to today's conflict, remember that the symbolism of Kosovo and the battle there is at the heart of Serbian nationalism not just in this region, but across the whole of the former Yugoslavia.

The Ottoman Turks were the new superpower of the fourteenth century. Originally horsemen from the central Asian steppes, they settled in Anatolia and in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries took over almost all of modern-day Turkey. In 1357, they burst across the Bosphorus into Europe and conquered Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria and continued to threaten Western Europe for the next 200 years.

Serbian nationalist myth has rated the Field of Blackbirds at Kosovo Polje in 1389 as a cataclysmic defeat in which the flower of the mediaeval Serbian aristocracy was slaughtered. Third-party historians would probably rate the battle as an expensive draw, but it was certainly the beginning of the end for the Serbian kingdom. They had thrown all the forces they had into the battle, while the Turks were able to return year after year in greater strength.

The heroism of Prince Lazar, the Serb ruler, at the Field of Blackbirds has now become the founding legend of Serbian nationalism. Six hundred years later, pilgrims were still visiting his bones at Gracanica monastery, nearby. According to the legend, at the start of the battle, the Ottomans offered Lazar the choice between fighting to the death and surrendering.

Elijah appeared to him with a message from the Virgin Mary:

What kingdom shall I choose? Shall I choose a heavenly kingdom? Shall I choose an earthly kingdom? If I choose an earthly kingdom, An earthly kingdom lasts only a little time/But a heavenly kingdom will last for eternity and its centuries.

Prince Lazar chose death.

All was holy; all was honourable/and the goodness of God was fulfilled.

Here are some photos of the visit to the Kosovo Polje Monument & the adjacent city of Kosovo Polje.

Marines Land @ Kosovo Polje Monument	Kosovo Polje Monument	Crest & Saying on Kosovo Polje Monument
Marines Land @ Kosovo Polje Monument	Kosovo Polje Monument	Saying on Kosovo Polje Monument
Scenic Overlook @ Kosovo Polje Monument	Scenic Overlook @ Kosovo Polje Monument	Scenic Overlook @ Kosovo Polje Monument
Overlooking Town of Kosovo Polje	Town of Kosovo Polje	Town of Kosovo Polje
Inside the Kosovo Polje monument Looking Down	KFOR HQ Film City	KFOR Monument @ KFOR HQ Film City
Town of Obilic