Debren is a village in

Garmen Municipality Garmen Municipality ( bg, Община Гърмен) is situated in the southeastern part of Blagoevgrad Province in Southwestern Bulgaria. It is a rural municipality, composed of 16 villages. The administrative center is the village of Garmen, bu ...

, in

Blagoevgrad Province Blagoevgrad Province ( bg, област Благоевград, ''oblast Blagoevgrad'' or Благоевградска област, ''Blagoevgradska oblast''), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Маке� ...

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 ...

.Guide Bulgaria
, Accessed May 5, 2010 It is situated in the Dabrash part of the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

2.5 kilometers southeast of

Garmen Garmen ( bg, Гърмен) is a village in Blagoevgrad Province in Bulgaria and is the seat of Garmen Municipality. It is located in southwestern Bulgaria in the Western Rhodope Mountains in the Chech region 75 kilometers southeast of Blagoevgra ...

and 110 kilometers southeast of

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( bg, Благоевград ) is а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultural centre ...

History

The village has a very long history. There are two stone-made Roman bridges in the old village, that existed until 1968 year, when the whole village was moved from its previous mountainous location to a new one - lower and closer to the

Mesta river Nestos ( ), Mesta ( ), or formerly the Mesta Karasu in Turkish (Karasu meaning "black river"), is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. It rises in the Rila Mountains and flows into the Aegean Sea near the island of Thasos. It plunges down towering c ...

, where the land is arable. The old village is now almost deserted, but there still is an old church and an old mosque, both still in relatively good condition. There are also some inhabited houses, but most of the buildings are in ruins. The village was mentioned first by the modern name in 1660 in Ottoman documents. In the 19th century the village was described as a Muslim village inhabited with people of

Pomak Pomaks ( bg, Помаци, Pomatsi; el, Πομάκοι, Pomáki; tr, Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is ...

origin. The new village was built with central water supply and sewerage and straight streets with two story houses.

Economy and transportation

The village is connected with

by a third class asphalt road, that connects Garmen with

Hadzhidimovo Hadzhidimovo ( bg, Хаджидимово ) is a small town and the centre of Hadzhidimovo Municipality in Blagoevgrad Province, south-western Bulgaria. It is located in the southernmost part of Bulgaria, bordering on Greece in the Chech region ...

and

Satovcha Satovcha ( bg, Сатовча, old version: ''Satovitsa'', ''Svatovitsa'') is a village in Southwestern Bulgaria. It is the administrative center of the Satovcha Municipality in Blagoevgrad Province. Geography The village of Satovcha is locate ...

. The road, connecting the old and the new village is unpaved. The village has bus connections with Garmen, Gotse Delchev, Blagoevgrad, Sofia, Satovcha and Hadzhidimovo. The agriculture is the most important source of income, especially tobacco growing. There aren't any industrial subjects in the village.

Education and health care

There is a primary school "St Kliment Ohridski". Its new building was opened in 2004 year. There is a kindergarten "Nikola Vaptsarov" and a community center "Paisii Hilendarski" with a public library and local folklore dancing formations for men and women. A medical doctor and a dentist provide health care in Debren. The nearest hospital is in

Gotse Delchev Georgi Nikolov Delchev (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian/Macedonian language, Macedonian: Георги/Ѓорѓи Николов Делчев; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев ...

References

{{coord, 41, 36, N, 23, 51, E, display=title, region:BG_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Villages in Blagoevgrad Province