Prizren

The name of the city has been linked with that of Petrizen, a Dardani fort mentioned by Procopius in the 6th century. Hamp has suggested that the name of the city roughly meant "ford-horned animal" with the IE root *ḱrn "horn, horned-thing" (cf. Oxford). According to Curtis, the toponym Prizren follows Albanian phonetic sound rules, meaning that the name developed under an Albanian-speaking population.

Prizren has been traditionally identified with Theranda, a town dating from the Roman Empire. However, recent research suggests that Theranda may have been located at present-day Suva Reka. Archaeological research has shown that the site of the Prizren Fortress has had several eras of habitation since prehistoric times. In its lower part, material from the upper part of the fort has been deposited over the centuries. It dates from the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 BCE) to the late Iron Age (c. 1st century CE) and is comparable to the material found in the nearby prehistoric site in the village of Vlashnjë (~10 km west of Prizren). In 2005, prehistoric rock paintings in a ritual site related to the cycle of life were found near Vlashnjë. They represent the first find of prehistoric rock art in the region. In late antiquity, the fortification saw a phase of reconstruction. …

Prizren is located on the foothills of the Šar Mountains (Albanian: Malet e Sharrit, Serbian Cyrillic: Шар-планина) in southern Kosovo on the banks of Prizren River. Prizren Municipality borders Albania to the southwest and North Macedonia to the southeast. Prizren has a subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) bordering a continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa) in the 0 °C isotherm and an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) in the -3 °C isotherm. with an average annual temperature of 11.8 °C (53.2 °F). The warmest month in Prizren is August with an average temperature of 22.2 °C (72.0 °F), while the coldest month is January with an average temperature of 0.0 °C (32.0 °F).