Šaljska Bistrica


Šaljska Bistrica is a settlement in the Leposavić municipality in northern Kosovo.

Name

In 1986, the secondary name of Šaljska Bistrica was the Albanianized version "Bistrica e Shalës".

Geography

The village is located 12 km southeast from Leposavić, below the Kopaonik. The settlement lies on both sides of the middle flow of the Bistrica, a right tributary of Ibar. The settlement is of the scattered type, and its cadastral area includes 787 hectares.

History

The village of Bistrica was mentioned in the 1455 Ottoman defter. Serbs were the majority population up until the mid-19th century, when Albanians expelled them and had their Orthodox church destroyed. The toponym Crkvište is used for the area of the church ruins.

Demographics

The village is inhabited by an ethnic Albanian majority.