Tran

Location: Tran is located in a mountain region in the Western part of Bulgaria, on the two banks of the Erma river, which forms a picturesque gorge. The town is 790 m above the sea level and is situated the valley Znepole, surrounded by the hills Kitka, Garkov stone, Charchalat and Mourgovitsa.

Tran is a town in Pernik region. Tran municipality is an administrative centre, which borders with The Republic of Serbia. The town is just 75 km away from Sofia and 49 km form Pernik, also close to the towns Dragoman and Breznik.

History: In the past the settlement was an important crafts and trade centre. The famous road Znepolski drum, which connected Dubrovnik an the Adriatic sea used to pass through it. The settlement was relatively dense populated, compared to nowadays. The archaeologist researches show traces of settlers ever since the Neolithic period. Stone axes and hammers from that period were found in the villages Bohova, Zabel, Yarlovtsi. Inhabited caves were found in Zelenigrad and Lomnitsa villages. Later on these lands were inhabited by Thracian, Goths and Slavic tribes.

During the ottoman rule, the now existing town Tran, was called Tran palanka and Taran palanka. The legend tells, that the name Tran comes from the past, when a big thorn, under which gushed a spring with healing water, existed in the village.

Under Byzantium rule in 1018 the town was demolished and burned down, and the locals were put under a savage terror. In 1829 the liberation uprising Transka Buna burst out in the town, but was quickly and cruelly suppressed by the Turkish army.

During the wars the Tran region sacrificed over 5 thousand victims, that is why many monuments and monumental slab stones with the names of the warriors can be often seen in the region.

As a result of the decisions taken by the Treaty of Neuilly a great number of settlements from the Tran region were given to Serbia. Some of the villages (Vrabcha, Strezimirovtsi, Bankya village, Petachnitsi) are still divided – one part of the settlement is in Bulgaria and the other one in Serbia.

The contemporary outlook of Tran town: Tran is a small, well arranged and maintained town. The central square is refurbished – offers comfortable benches, lights and a fountain with clear, cold water. The houses and buildings are also renewed. A brand new hotel is build in the centre of the town. The hotel is build in a typical alpine style and is perfectly matching the surrounding architecture. As a whole Tran combines all comforts of the big city with the cosiness and calmness of a small village.

Tran is popular for its professional masters in the contraction works, pottery and carpentry. During the XIXth century the craftsmen form Tran have build the outlook of numerous towns and villages.

Temples and monuments: There are two orthodox temples in Tran: “Sveti Nikola” and “Sveta Petka” in Barintsi neighbourhood, where the stone chapel “Sveta Petka” is located. The town offers two monuments and a huge stone with the names of the heroes who died during the wars.
One of the monuments is placed to honour those who perished during the Serbian-Bulgarian war, and the other one – in hounour of the victims of the Balkan war, the First World War and the Balkan alliance war.
The Tran monastery “St. Archangel Mmichail” is just 2 km from the town in the Rui mountain.

Natural attractions: The Tran region offers mountain and semi mountain relief with a row of mountains from the Rui mountain range. The region is famous with two natural phenomena. The first one is Rui peak (1706 m).

The second natural phenomenon is the gorge of the Erma river or the Lomnishko gorge (the name of the nearby village Lomnitsa). The gorge is included in the list of the 100 natural tourism sites in Bulgaria.

The Tran eco trail passes through it. It is over 13 km long, located on 600 – 1000 m above the sea level and passes through vertical cliffs. The rocks of the gorge offer over 10 routes for rock climbing.

Lomnitsa village is just 5-6 km away from Tran. It offers a nice meadow for camping and is easy accessible through an asphalted road. The campsite is not big, but is clean and cosy, with a lot of threes. An inevitable advantage is the crystal clear river Erma, which passes through the meadow.

The Vrabchanski waterfall is also located in close vicinity to Tran. It is almost 4 metres high. There is a carst spring in close vicinity to the waterfall, a picnic site, a picturesque trail through a forest and mountain meadows, which will take you to the Bankya village.

Just 15-20 km away from Tran is situated another sightseeing – the Elovishka mountain with a highest peak Plocha (1329 m), which is inaccessible through a marked trail.

The Tran region is ecology clean with huge forest massifs with diverse flora (mainly beech and oak threes, as well as briar, hawthorn, wild iris, sycamore, lime three, maple, wild pears, apples, plumps, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and etc.) and fauna (different types of birds, deers, reindeer, rabbits, foxes, wolfs, wild boars and etc.). Hunting is a popular sport in the region. There are also attractive sites for the fishermen and the dam nearby the Yarlotsi village offers carp, perch and etc.

The Tran region offers various rock formation, carst caves, cascades, small waterfalls, meadows, carst springs with drinking water, mineral waters (nearby the Bankya village).

The whole diversity of the region makes it extremely suitable for mountain trekking, eco, rural, cultural, mountain tourism and rock climbing.

Photos from Tran