Debar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Debar (Cyrillic: Дебар) is a city in the western part of the Republic of Macedonia, near the border with Albania, on the road from the city of Struga to the city of Gostivar. It is a seat of the Debar municipality.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Debar is surrounded by the mountains Deshat, Stogovo, Jablanica and Bistra. It is located 625 meters above sea level, next to Lake Debar, the Black Drin river and its smaller break-off river Radika.
[edit] Population
According to the last census data from 2002, Debar municipality has 19,542 inhabitants, including 11,348 (58.07%) Albanians, 3,911 (20.01%) Macedonians, 2,684 (13.74%) Turks, 1,080 (5.53%) Roma, and 519 (2.66%) others.
[edit] Name
The name of the city in Macedonian language is Дебар / Debar, in Albanian Dibër or Dibra, in Turkish Debre and in Greek Δίβρη (Dibrē) or Δίβρα (Dibra).
[edit] History
The first recorded document mentioning Debar is the map of Ptolemy, dating around the middle of the 2nd century, in which it is called Deborus. The Byzantine emperor Basil II knew of its existence, and Felix Petancic referred to it as Dibri in 1502.
The city was subsequently conquered by the First Bulgarian Empire, but lost to the Byzantines under Tsar Samuil by the early 11th century, as Bulgaria was subjugated.
Bohemond and his Norman army took the city in 1107. In the 13th and 14th century, the city changed hands between Despotate of Epirus, the Second Bulgarian Empire, Byzantine Empire and Serbia.
At the end of the 14th century it is conquered by the Ottomans.
During the time of the Albanian prince Gjergj Kastriot Skenderbeg, it played a major role in the rebelions of Albanian population against the Ottomans. Debar region was the borderline between the Ottomans and the rebels between 1443 and 1465 and became an area of continuous conflict. There were two major battles near Debar April 29, 1444 and September 27, 1446, both ending as Ottoman defeats.
In the early 19th century, when Debar rebelled against the Turkish Sultan, the French traveller, publicist, and scientist Ami Bue observed that Debar had 64 shops and 4,200 residents.
Debar was significantly involved in the national Albanian movement and on November 1, 1878 the Albanian leaders of the city participated in founding the League of Prizren.
During the First Balkan War of 1912-1913, the city was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia. In September of 1913 during an Albanian invasion of Serbia, Albanian armed forces occupied the city, but the Serbian Army regained it later that month.[citation needed]
By the end of the century, the town had 15,500 residents, but after World War I, this number started to decline.
[edit] Culture
From the 17th to 19th century, woodcarving masters from Debar were recognized for their skill. Their work can be seen in many churches throughout the Balkan Peninsula. One of their masterpieces is the iconostasis in wood-carved iconostasis in the monastery of Saint Jovan Bigorski, near the town of Debar. The monastery was rebuilt in th 19th century and is situated on the slopes of Mount Bistra, above the banks of the River Radika. The monastery was built on the remains of an older church dating from 1021.
Another important religious monument is the monastery of Saint Gjorgi in the village of Rajcica in the immediate vicinity of Debar. The monastery was recently built.
Grigor Prlichev was given the title Second Homer in 1860 in Athens for his poem The Serdar . Based on a folk poem, it deals with the exploits and heroic death of Kuzman Kapidan, a famous hero and protector of Christian people in the Debar region in their struggle with bandits.
Some of the oldest and richest Albanian epics still exist in the Debar regions and are part of the Albanian mythological heritage.
[edit] References
- The History of Byzantine State by G. Ostrogorsky
- History of the Macedonian People from Ancient times to the Present by R.Stefov, Part 19 [1]
- The Serdar by G. Prlicev
| Cities and Towns in the Republic of Macedonia |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Berovo | Bitola | Bogdanci | Debar | Delčevo | Demir Kapija | Demir Hisar | Gevgelija | Gostivar | Kavadarci | Kičevo | Kočani | Kratovo | Kriva Palanka | Kruševo | Kumanovo | Makedonski Brod | Makedonska Kamenica | Negotino | Ohrid | Pehčevo | Prilep | Probištip | Radoviš | Resen | Štip | Skopje | Struga | Strumica | Sveti Nikole | Tetovo | Valandovo | Veles | Vinica | ||
