Dojran (Дојран) (another name Polin, Polenin, Poljanin, variants Dorjan,
Dogrjan, village Δοϊράνη, Dojrani) is a historic town in the
southeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia on the shores of Lake
Dojran, which was destroyed in the First World War when it had
18,000 inhabitants. Today, the name Dojran is carried by three
settlements located around Lake Dojran:
Settlement Star
Dojran (363 inhabitants), center of the Municipality of Dojran in
the Republic of Macedonia on the site of the old town,
Settlement
Nov Dojran (1100 inhabitants) in the Republic of Macedonia 5 km
north of the old town,
Settlement Dojran (Δοϊράνη) (183
inhabitants) in Aegean Macedonia on the southern shore of Lake
Dojran on the site of the old Dojran railway station.
There are many legends and legends about Dojran. Here is how this: In the place where today's Dojran is lived a very beautiful girl, Dojran. After her, an Ottoman bey noticed her and fell in love with her. He went to her parents and asked her for a wife. But the girl did not like him. So one day she went to fill the pitchers with water from a spring. But then the Islamic bey (the one who was in love with her) noticed her and ran after her. But she did not like him and did not want others around her to suffer, so she threw herself into the spring! The next day, the spring expanded, flooding the whole place. It became a lake. After the girl's name - Dojrana, the lake got its name 'Dojran'.
In the 5th century BC. the valley of Prazias (now Lake Dojran) was inhabited by the Paionians. They lived on the shore of the lake, in wooden huts surrounded by reeds and placed on scaffolding that rested on long wooden stakes. Only the boats were connected to the mainland with very good handling, which is why the attempts of the conquerors (Persians) were often unsuccessful. They were married many times, and engaged in hunting, fishing, agriculture and animal husbandry. They were very good swimmers and divers. Each of them had an opening in his hut to the lake (at the bottom of the hut floor) through which they fished in abundance and fed even horses and cattle. The region around Lake Prezias at that time belonged territorially to the Macedonian state whose king was Amyntas, then to his son Alexander I after him, then Perdiccas II (454 - 413 BC) then Archelaus I (418 - 399 BC). In the first and second centuries BC. during the time of Philip II and Alexander the Great and in the period when the Romans began to enter the Balkans (II century BC) on the west coast of Prazias (today, locality Toplec) on an area of about 30 hectares was already spread ancient city - a fortress with the oldest known name Taurian. In 395, during the division of the Roman Empire into West and East, whose center was Visit (Constantinople), Taurian became part of the Eastern Roman Empire, ie Byzantium. Then comes the time when the Slavs settled in the Balkans. At the beginning of the ninth century, Taurian was considered a city which, thanks to its location and development, occupies an important place in terms of historical, cultural and economic developments. Although there are no written and documented data that will accurately characterize Taurian in this century, it is most likely to be assumed that in one of the years of the IX century due to a cholera epidemic and its consequences the city was moved slightly lower - to the south. The new town gets a new name Pauline.
The new city by the lake also accepts the habits of the old
Taurian. Basic life joys remain: good fishing, successful hunting,
home garden and healthy cattle birth. However, being at the
crossroads where the interests of the Byzantines and the Bulgarians
clashed, where the Macedonian state of Samuel expanded or narrowed
(period from 969 to 1018) and where the conquering armies of the
Serbian kings passed (Milutin 1282 and Dusan 1331 - 1355) Pauline
also had to face the not-so-pleasant things of the time. In addition
to the wars, its inhabitants had to pay various taxes to the
Byzantine state. Between 1026 and 1037 to 1039, Pauline residents
experienced earthquakes, droughts, floods, and epidemics. Living in
the time of all this, they in their Pauline by the lake "welcomed"
the brand new and longest-lasting guests - masters, the Ottoman
Turks. The Turks gave the third name of the city - Dojran. In the
second half of the 15th century, Dojran was a nahija - the center of
several rural municipalities. Almost in the same period (1519) or
148 years after the arrival of the Turks in Dojran, some documents
say that 232 families lived in it. Only three of them were Muslim
and all the other 229 families were Christian. Massive colonization
of Dojran with a Turkish population took place in the first half of
the 17th century. At that time, in the vicinity of Dojran, there
were villages in which exclusively Turkish population lives today:
Gjopceli, Chaushli, Sevendekli, Dedeli, Kurtamzali, Organzali and
others who are currently displaced. Due to the proximity and
influence of the current social and political processes, Dojran was
a city with an amphitheater appearance of two parts: lower - where
the local population lived and upper - where the Turkish population
was located. The city was built in the style of Constantinople and
Thessaloniki architecture. It had cobbled streets, clean drinking
water captured from springs above the city and carried to several
city fountains through canal pipes, a city bath - a hammam that
served all residents, men and women, Christians and Muslims, three
churches and three mosques. several schools (several primary and one
gymnasium) and a common clock tower. Dojran at that time belonged to
about 79 villages with a population of about 30,000, of which over
18,000 Turks, more than 9,500 Macedonians, about 160 Jews and 1,000
Roma).
Against the ruined city at that time it was as if the
lake turned and flooded its coastal part with everything that was
once bars, houses, markets and streets. Faced with the harsh reality
of their Dojran, which offered virtually no living conditions in it,
sixty fishing families in 1919/20 squandered their longing to return
to the old hearth near the foundations of the old Taurian. 4 km from
the ruined Dojran, they create a new settlement called Nov Dojran.
But like the previous "masters" the Turks, the Kingdom of SHS in
this area is inhabited by 29 families of Serb population, during
which the settlement Sretenovo was formed. In time, families began
to return to the old town of Dojran. The then government, for its
own reasons, located the administrative-administrative life in the
ruined city. Thus, a parallel pulsation of life in Nov and Star
Dojran gradually began. In World War II, Dojran was again the target
of neighbors' wishes to be finally released on November 5, 1944.
That meant a qualitatively new beginning and equal and impressive
progress for both Dojranas. Besides Dojran Lake, today on the
Macedonian side there are three settlements: Nov Dojran, Star Dojran
and Nikolic with over 4,000 inhabitants. The population in the
mid-50s began to engage in tourism. In its function today along the
Dojran coast there are 40 facilities (hotels and resorts) of
companies from all over the country, 4 commercial hotels and as many
modern casinos and over 600 weekend houses.
The new city by the lake also accepts the habits of the old
Taurian. Basic life joys remain: good fishing, successful hunting,
home garden and healthy cattle birth. However, being at the
crossroads where the interests of the Byzantines and the Bulgarians
clashed, where the Macedonian state of Samuel expanded or narrowed
(period from 969 to 1018) and where the conquering armies of the
Serbian kings passed (Milutin 1282 and Dusan 1331 - 1355) Pauline
also had to face the not-so-pleasant things of the time. In addition
to the wars, its inhabitants had to pay various taxes to the
Byzantine state. Between 1026 and 1037 to 1039, Pauline residents
experienced earthquakes, droughts, floods, and epidemics. Living in
the time of all this, they in their Pauline by the lake "welcomed"
the brand new and longest-lasting guests - masters, the Ottoman
Turks. The Turks gave the third name of the city - Dojran. In the
second half of the 15th century, Dojran was a nahija - the center of
several rural municipalities. Almost in the same period (1519) or
148 years after the arrival of the Turks in Dojran, some documents
say that 232 families lived in it. Only three of them were Muslim
and all the other 229 families were Christian. Massive colonization
of Dojran with a Turkish population took place in the first half of
the 17th century. At that time, in the vicinity of Dojran, there
were villages in which exclusively Turkish population lives today:
Gjopceli, Chaushli, Sevendekli, Dedeli, Kurtamzali, Organzali and
others who are currently displaced. Due to the proximity and
influence of the current social and political processes, Dojran was
a city with an amphitheater appearance of two parts: lower - where
the local population lived and upper - where the Turkish population
was located. The city was built in the style of Constantinople and
Thessaloniki architecture. It had cobbled streets, clean drinking
water captured from springs above the city and carried to several
city fountains through canal pipes, a city bath - a hammam that
served all residents, men and women, Christians and Muslims, three
churches and three mosques. several schools (several primary and one
gymnasium) and a common clock tower. Dojran at that time belonged to
about 79 villages with a population of about 30,000, of which over
18,000 Turks, more than 9,500 Macedonians, about 160 Jews and 1,000
Roma).
Against the ruined city at that time it was as if the
lake turned and flooded its coastal part with everything that was
once bars, houses, markets and streets. Faced with the harsh reality
of their Dojran, which offered virtually no living conditions in it,
sixty fishing families in 1919/20 squandered their longing to return
to the old hearth near the foundations of the old Taurian. 4 km from
the ruined Dojran, they create a new settlement called Nov Dojran.
But like the previous "masters" the Turks, the Kingdom of SHS in
this area is inhabited by 29 families of Serb population, during
which the settlement Sretenovo was formed. In time, families began
to return to the old town of Dojran. The then government, for its
own reasons, located the administrative-administrative life in the
ruined city. Thus, a parallel pulsation of life in Nov and Star
Dojran gradually began. In World War II, Dojran was again the target
of neighbors' wishes to be finally released on November 5, 1944.
That meant a qualitatively new beginning and equal and impressive
progress for both Dojranas. Besides Dojran Lake, today on the
Macedonian side there are three settlements: Nov Dojran, Star Dojran
and Nikolic with over 4,000 inhabitants. The population in the
mid-50s began to engage in tourism. In its function today along the
Dojran coast there are 40 facilities (hotels and resorts) of
companies from all over the country, 4 commercial hotels and as many
modern casinos and over 600 weekend houses.
Clock tower
Clock tower in Star Dojran — clock tower in Star Dojran, erected in
1372.
History
The clock tower was built in the time of
Evrenos-bey. The clock tower is located on the hill of the Dojran lake
where the upper Turkish bazaar once stood, near the hammam and the
fountain. It is the only one built in the so-called opus cloisonné. The
clock tower was damaged during the Balkan wars. She was about 10 meters
tall and dominated the surroundings with her height. The clock informed
all citizens about the weather, merchants and artisans about the opening
and closing of shops, fishermen about going to the dairies. In 2021, it
was restored and reconstructed.
Church of St. Elijah (1905 - 1968)
Turkish bath-hammam
Monastery (Mary Magdalene)
Born
Anton Panov (1905 – 1968), Macedonian writer
Theodosius
Sinaitski, (not known - 1843), Macedonian revivalist
Hristo Andonov
Poljanski (1927 - 1985), Macedonian historian
Hristofor Zhefarovich
(not known - 1753), Macedonian painter, heraldist and one of the first
pan-Slavists
Gjorgi Abadziev (1910–1963), Macedonian novelist
Nikola Ajcev, Macedonian doctor, twice mayor and politician
Risto
Gushev Macedonian agronomist, former mayor and politician
Gligor
Chabulev, businessman, mayor and politician
Andon Mitov (1909 -
1975), doctor in Bulgaria
Georgi Kulishev (1885 - 1974), politician
in Bulgaria
Gerasim Mihailov (1878-1925), member of the BKP
Dimitar Brzitsov (1858 - 1931), writer in Bulgaria
Dimitar Hadjidinev
(1875 - 1941), social scientist in Bulgaria
Nikola Stojanov, (1874 -
1967), scientist in Bulgaria
Nikola Janishliev, (1878 - 1924),
educated and musical actor in Bulgaria
Nikola Tekeliev (1876 - 1930),
teacher in Bulgaria