Krusha e Madhe lies about 10 km south of Rahovec. It is a compact settlement. Its elevation is about 338 metres above sea level. Krusha e Madhe is one of the largest settlements in the municipality of Rahovec. Over time the village expanded from areas closer to the White Drin toward its present lowland setting.
Written records trace the settlement at least to 1355, with further references in 1530, 1591. Historical forms of the name recorded in documents include Gorna Krusha. A register from 1530 records 11 households. During the interwar period, 48 Slavic colonist or optant families were settled here. The 20th century also brought emigration of some residents to Turkey.
On 25–27 March 1999, Krusha e Madhe was the site of a major massacre of Albanian civilians. Many people were killed or disappeared and homes and other buildings were burned; the event remains one of the gravest episodes of the Kosovo War in the Rahovec area.
Source
Source and further reading
Principal source: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Osmani, Settlements of Kosovo 2 — Rahovec, second edition, Prishtina, 2008.
Source entry: KRUSHA E MADHE
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.