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Debar (Macedonian (Slavonic): Дебар, Albanian: Dibra, Cyrillic: Дебър) is a city in Republic of Macedonia near the city of Gostivar and the border with Albania.

Debar is surrounded by the mountains Desati, Stogovo and Jablanica. It is located 625 meters above sea level, next to Lake Debar, the Black Drin river (Macedonian language: Црн Дрим, Albanian: Drini i Zi) and its smaller break-off river Radika. It has about 50 thousand inhabitants, mostly Albanians,Slavic Macedonians and Turks.

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 became part of the Samuil Empire but shortly after (by the beggining of the 11th century) it returned under the Byzantine rule. Byzantines downgraded the Ohrid church into Archbishopric and allowed John of Debar, the first and only Macedonian Slav to be head of the Archbishopric. Bohemond and his Norman army took the city in 1107. In the 13th and 14th century the city changed hands between Despotate of Epirus, Bulgaria, 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 Skanderbeg, it played a major role in the Albanian-Osman wars. 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 defeat.

In the early 19th century when Debar rebelled against the Turkish Sultan, the French traveler, publicist, and scientist Ami Bue observed that Debar had 64 shops and 4200 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.

By the end of the century, the town had 15,500 residents, but after World War I, this number started to decline.

Culture

From 17 to 19 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 tiny woodcarving in monastery Saint Jovan Bigorski, located 2 km from Debar.

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 the Albanian bandits.

Some of the Albanian oldest and richest epics still exist in the Debar regions and are part of the Albanian mythological heritage.

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

• The Serdar by G. Prlicev

• Cities in the Republic of Macedonia