Chamla ( bg, Чамла) is an
abandoned village
An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, f ...
in the municipality of
Smolyan
Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province. The town is built ...
, located in the
Smolyan Province
Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative ...
of southern
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. The village is located 150.9 km from
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
.
Geography
Chamla is formally the highest village in Bulgaria, even though it is abandoned—this is because the land, administratively speaking, is still considered a village, although there have not been people there for many years. It is located close to the village
Mugla and a rock formation known as the
Trigrad Gorge.
History
From 1878 to 1886, Chamla was located in the so-called
Tamrash Republic. In 1920, 87 people lived in the village, in 1946, 133, and in 1965, 162. It was entirely deserted in the 80s, but it has not been removed from the lists of several associations.
In 2004, the Frenchman Olivier Lieuk (?) attempted to become the only resident of the village, but stayed there for less than a year, living in primitive conditions. After him, Oscar Korea tried again at this task, but did not succeed.
Past Events
In 2006, there was a project for the ‘village’ to hold a youth art festival, ‘Chamla Fest’. The project failed at the last minute and the location was changed.
References
Villages in Smolyan Province
{{Smolyan-geo-stub