Kutmichevitsa

The Debar–Velich diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was created in Kutmichevitsa whose first bishop between 886 and 893 was Clement of Ohrid, appointed by Knyaz Boris I.

[2] To the north Kutmichevitsa reached the river Shkumbin and the ridge Chermenika (Çermenikë) which also divide northern from southern Albania and form the border between the Gheg and Tosk Albanian; to the east and north-east was separated from Macedonia by the Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa; to the south and south-east bordered the historical region Epirus and to the west reached the plains of the Adriatic Sea known as Myzeqe or Savrovo Pole.

Kutmichevitsa (or Devol) was probably one of the 10 comitati (administrative regions) of the Bulgarian Empire, with Devol/Deabolis as its capital which also served as a seat of the diocese of the name.

The last ruler of the First Empire, Presian II, made his final desperate stand in that region, in the mountain Tomoritsa (Tomorr).

[7][10] In the turmoil following the death of Ivan Asen II in 1241, the region shared the fate of neighbouring Macedonia and was conquered by the Byzantines.

[15] After its disintegration the region became part of the Principality of Valona and was ruled by the niece of the Bulgarian emperor Ivan Alexander like lord of the rest of the Serbian Empire and later by her daughter from Balša II, Ruđina Balšić.