Article on Decani Orthodox Monastery Wins Prize in Readers’ writing competition 2011

Sarah inside the foyer of the Visoki Decani monastery, right. Photographs: Sameer Saran; Reuters/Corbis 17/11/2011 At a monastery in the mountains of Kosovo, Sarah George Thengungal finds the monks’ chanting and their fiery plum brandy equally uplifting. THE WINNER Driving through the armoured gates of the Serbian Orthodox Visoki Decani monastery in our Kosovar government car (my friend, who worked for the EU in Kosovo, had the use of the vehicle), I am surprised to see no signs saying that you are entering the hallowed and fiercely disputed ground where the largest medieval Balkan church stands.