Papaz lies about 10 km east of Theranda and is a small dispersed settlement. Very old burial grounds survive in its territory, with stone slabs carrying carved human figures, working implements and other signs, pointing to an earlier layer of life in the area.
The settlement appears in Gërgur Mazreku's report from 1671, which also records Albanian Christian families. Kosovo Vilayet yearbooks from 1893, 1896 and 1900 list the village under the name Papaz.
During the 1998–99 war, Serbian military and police forces destroyed 18 houses and other buildings. Private libraries containing around 1,700 books were also burned. Two residents of the village were killed: a KLA commander and a woman. For a small settlement, the human and material losses of this period were severe.
Source
Source and further reading
Principal source: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Osmani, Settlements of Kosovo 4 — Theranda (Suhareka), Prishtina, 2003.
Source entry: PAPAZI
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.