Gelanca lies about 8 km south of Theranda, on mainly flat ground. Old graves with large stones have been uncovered in the centre of the village, along with a ring, indicating an earlier layer of habitation.
In Ottoman documentation from 1530 the settlement appears in the form Gjilança and is recorded with 11 households. The nearby locality of Tarazhda is also documented in a charter from 1348. Gelanca's population developed over time through families arriving from Grejkoc, Budakova, Maçiteva, Çadrak, Krushica, Jezerc and Luma. In 1926–27 four colonist families were settled at the Gelanca-Novaka locality.
In 1999 the village had around 165 houses and approximately 1,700 residents, including Albanians and Egyptians. Gelanca escaped the extensive destruction suffered by many settlements in the municipality; three shops along the Prishtina–Prizren road were destroyed. On 3 April 1999 part of the population was expelled to Albania, while the rest remained in the village.
Source
Source and further reading
Principal source: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Osmani, Settlements of Kosovo 4 — Theranda (Suhareka), Prishtina, 2003.
Source entry: GELANCA
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.