The village name Gjonaj derives from the Albanian name Gjon.[3][4]
History
The village Gjonaj is first mentioned in 1348 in the chrysobull of Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan, along with eight other Catholic Albanian villages in the Prizren area, these villages are known with the names Gjinovci (Gjinajt), Magjerci, Bjellogllavci (Kryebardhët), Flokovci (Flokajt), Crnça, Caparci (Çaparajt), Shpinadinci (Shpinajt) and Novaci. [5][6]
In the place where Gjonaj is today may have stood the town of Guri i Hasit.[7] A church in Gjonaj is possibly one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in Kosovo.[8] Gjonaj is considered to have been the birthplace of Andrea and Pjetër Bogdani.[9]
Notable People
Andrea Bogdani, 17th century Albanian scholar and priest.
Pjetër Bogdani, 17th century Albanian priest, scholar and patriot.
^Malcolm, Noel (1999). Kosovo : a short history. New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN0-06-097775-2. OCLC41603542. And Dusan's chrysobull of 1348 for the Monastery of the Holy Archangels in Prizren mentions a total of nine Albanian katuns
^Popullsia Shqiptare E Kosoves Gjate Shekujve - Selami Pulaha, p. 16 '
Shqiptaret ishin te pranishem ne shek. XIV ne zonat e Prizrenit
dhe te Shkupit. Ne krisobulen e car Stefan Dushanit dhene Manastirit
te shen Mihailit dhe te Gavrilit (1348-1353) ne Prizren behet fjale
per pranine e shqiptareve ne Rrafshin e Dukagjinit, ne afersi te
Prizrenit dhe te fshatrave te Drenices. Ne te deshmohet per ekzistencen
e nente katundeve blegtorale shqiptare ne afersite e Prizrenit te
njohura me emrin Gjinovci (Gjinajt), Magjerci, Bjelloglavci, Flokovci (Flokajt),
Crnca, Caparci, Gjonovci (Gjonajt), Shpinadinci(Shpinajt), Novaci.'
^Elsie, Robert (2011). Historical dictionary of Kosovo. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN978-0-8108-7483-1. OCLC694772524. Born in Gur i Hasit near Prizren about 1630, Bogdani was educated in the traditions of the Catholic Church, to which he devoted all his energy