Novi Pazar Serbia

Novi Pazar (meaning 'new marketplace') is the cultural centre of southern Serbia's Sandžak region with a majority Muslim population, which is immediately obvious on the approach to town from the lanky minarets that dot the hilly cityscape. Turkish coffee, cuisine and customs abound; the old bazaar's hectic lanes are chock-full of cafes and shops peddling Turkish goods from jewellery to jeans. And yet, some of the most sacred Orthodox sights – a Unesco-listed monastery and the oldest church in the country – are on the outskirts of Novi Pazar: this was the heartland of the medieval Serbian state of Raška.