Vraniq lies about 12 km southeast of Theranda, in a gorge where the Lumi i Madh and Lumi i Vogël meet. The settlement is largely dispersed. Southeast of the village, at Gradina, traces of an older settlement survive; millstones have been found at Qafa e Gradinës, while roof tiles, bricks and other building material have been recorded farther east.
The settlement appears in documents from 1348 and in the memorial book of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, begun in 1465. An Ottoman register of 1485 recorded 10 households, while a 1530 register lists it as Gorna Vraniq. Late-19th-century Kosovo Vilayet yearbooks also record the form Ivranik.
During 1998–99 the village experienced four major Serbian offensives, in September 1998 and in March, May and June 1999. Before the war it had about 280 houses and roughly 2,500 Albanian residents. On 3 and 21 May 1999 most of the population was forcibly deported to Albania, while several families took refuge in the surrounding mountains.
Source
Source and further reading
Principal source: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Osmani, Settlements of Kosovo 4 — Theranda (Suhareka), Prishtina, 2003.
Source entry: ARRISHTA (Vraniqi)
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.