Cernica lies about 6–7 km southwest of Gjilan. Gradishta e Cernicës and layers containing pottery and Roman-period material point to a long history of settlement in the area. The study also associates the locality with the Dardanian cultural horizon of antiquity.
The village is mentioned in documents from 1393, in the 1498 register of the Novo Brdo district, and in a Dubrovnik document from 1512. A 1566–74 register records the name Çernica, while late-19th-century yearbooks preserve the form Cerniçe.
On 15 April 1999 more than 90% of the population was expelled to North Macedonia. During the war 82 houses, the 1775 mosque and other buildings were burned; KLA fighters and civilians were also killed.
Source
Source and further reading
Principal source: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Osmani, Vendbanimet e Kosovës 6 — Gjilani, Prishtinë, 2004.
Source entry: CERNICA
This page presents a selected summary from the published study of the settlement. For complete archival references, family histories, microtoponymy and the full treatment, consult the original volume.