Most Popular PlacesRandom PlaceListsItinerariesAdd a PlaceDownload the App ‘Cross-legged’ Ta Kon Citadel St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church Art of Play Atlas Obscura’s Guide to America’s Most Haunted Cemeteries 5 days ago The Best Haunted Hotels to Book for a Spooky Getaway 14 days ago Is Alton, Illinois America’s Most Haunted Small Town? 18 days ago The sculpture of a man sitting in the middle of the square holds great significance for the young nation of Kosovo. Another view of the sitting man Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User Another view of the sitting man Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User Another view of the sitting man Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User Another view of the sitting man Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User Another view of the sitting man Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User During the 1990 protests, thousands of Kosovo Albanians gathered peacefully in Pristina to oppose the Serbian regime.
Among them was Faik Rexhepi, a chemical engineer from nearby Presheva, who joined the protesters after learning of a visit by a US delegation and the publicity it might bring to the Albanian cause. When Serbian police moved in to disperse the crowd with batons, everyone fled except Rexhepi, who remained seated and was brutally beaten. Photographer Hazir Reka captured the defining moment: Rexhepi sitting peacefully surrounded by unfriendly policemen.
The photograph soon appeared in national and international newspapers, becoming a symbol of Kosovo Albanian resistance. Following Kosovo's independence, by November 2022, Pristina Mayor unveiled Këmbëkryq (“Crossed Legs”), a bronze sculpture by local artist Eliza Shala depicting Rexhepi seated on the floor in a pose identical to the iconic photo. Located in what is now Zahir Pajaziti Square, the sculpture immortalizes the scene that took place there more than three decades earlier.
Get more unusual and extraordinary places each week with the Atlas Obscura Places newsletter. Your newsletter subscriptions with us are subject to Atlas Obscura's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. A bronze, peeing self-portrait protests unequal inheritance rights.
After protestors toppled a statue of a 17th-century slave trader, the pedestal where it once stood remains unoccupied. Romans decided this 16th-century "talking statue" was so ugly, they named it after a primate. A statue commemorate Tommie Smith and John Carlos's brave protest at the 1968 Olympics, a watershed moment for civil rights.
A memorial to a dog that inspired rioting in the streets of London. A bronze memorial to Tallinn’s most famous, and most elusive, stray dog, erected while he was still alive. The Pulitzer Prize winning writer and actor from “The Exorcist,” Jason Miller, is immortalized with a statue that contains his ashes.
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