Herebel
village in Dibër County, Albania
Herebel (Macedonian: Ербеле; Bulgarian: Ърбеле) is a village in the former Maqellarë municipality in Dibër County in northeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Dibër. It is situated on the mountain Dešat, near the border with North Macedonia.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1467 in Ottoman records. In 1583, it was recorded as having 18 Christian and four Muslim residents.
Of all of the local villages during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, while still under the Ottoman Empire, only Herebel and Kërçisht i Sipërm were populated by Bulgarian Exarchists, while the rest were populated by Muslims.
Several members of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps were born in Herebel.
Demographics
In statistics gathered by Vasil Kanchov in 1900, the village of Herebel was inhabited by 75 Christian Bulgarians and 125 Muslim Bulgarians. However, Kanchov noted that the inhabitants of the village preferred to be called Albanians and that they spoke Albanian.
During the first World War occupying Austro-Hungarian forces conducted a census (1916-1918) of parts of Albania they held and of Herebel its ethnic demographics they recorded 74 Albanians, 136 others, 3 Romani while its religious composition was 77 Muslims and 136 Orthodox Christians.
“Herebel” enters the record as village in Dibër County, Albania. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Herebel, village and Dibër can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Herebel” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Herebel, village and Dibër provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3302976. The first chronological checks are 2015, 1467, 1583 and 1900.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Herebel”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Herebel primary sources, Herebel archive and Herebel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Herebel”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Herebel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.