Gyovren is a village under the municipality of Devin

Devin, Bulgaria

Devin is a town in Smolyan Province in the far south of Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Devin Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 7,054 inhabitants.-Location and geography:...

 in the Smolyan Province

Smolyan Province

-Religion:The Smolyan province along with the Kardzhali Province is a province where the predominant religion is not Orthodox Christianity but Islam. However, unlike Kardzhali where the majority of the population is Turkish, the Muslim population of the Smolyan province is made up almost entirely...

 in the southern part of Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

.

Geography

Gyovren is located in the Rhodope Mountains

Rhodope Mountains

The Rhodopes are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Its highest peak, Golyam Perelik , is the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain...

 on the northern slope of the Trigrad plateau, not far from the Bulgaria–Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 border. It is located 20 km south of the town of Devin between the villages of Teshel and Trigrad and 143 km from the national capital Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

. It is a typical high-mountain village situated on a steep rocky relief. West of the village flows the Trigrad River and there lies the Trigrad Gorge

Trigrad Gorge

The Trigrad Gorge is a canyon of vertical marble rocks in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria's very southern parts....

. Along the road at the foot of the village is a mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 which was historically significant in the founding of the village.

Culture

The population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of Gyovren is mainly ethnic Turks

Turks in Bulgaria

The Turks in Bulgaria number 588,318 people and constitute 8.8% of those who declared their ethnic group and 8.0% of the total population according to the 2011 Bulgarian census. 605,802 persons or 9.1% of the population pointed Turkish language as their mother tongue. They are also the largest...

. The village celebrates many old traditions and holidays such as Ramazan Bayrami, Kurban Bayram, Ashure and Aderlez.

Attractions

The mountains surrounding Gyovren are full of rich natural wildlife. The natural reserve, "Kazanite", is home to pine and spruce trees from over 80-100 years ago. Local wildlife in the reserve include deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, wild goats, and wild pigs

PIGS

PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...

. There are also a few dairy farms, "mandras," in the mountains where sheep milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

, white cheese ("sirene

Sirene

Sirene/ Sirenje or known as "white brine sirene" .Salads: Shopska salad with tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, onions and sirene. Ovcharska salad with the above mentioned vegetables, cheese, ham, boiled eggs and olives. Tomatoes with sirene is a traditional light salad during the summer.Eggs:...

"), kashkaval

Kashkaval

Kashkaval deriving from the Italian Caciocavallo is a specific type of yellow sheep milk cheese. However, in Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Romania, the term is often used to refer to all yellow cheeses...

, and butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

are processed manually during the summer months using centuries-old techniques.

Gyovren is also located between the Devil's Throat Cave and Yagodinska Cave.

There are also a number of guest houses located in the village and open for tourists throughout the year.