One can feel the magic of Pelister even at the foot, out of which a narrow winding path rich with vivid landscapes leads to the glacial lakes. Photo
Baba Mountain, under which the city of Bitola is nested, hides many secrets, but the largest, most beautiful and most exciting is kept by its peek Pelister. Up where the mountain heights cut the clouds two mountain lakes hide, two beautiful blue eyes that reflect its entire beauty.
One can feel the magic of Pelister even at the foot, out of which a narrow winding path rich with vivid landscapes leads to the glacial lakes.
Pelister is one of the first protected national parks in the Balkans. Due to the relict of the tertiary flora – Molika (Pinus Peuce Griseb), and the morphological and glacial relief in the alpine part of the mountain, in 1948 Pelister was declared a National Park. The Park sits aside Macedonia’s southern borderline with Greece, running along the Baba Mountain (the third-highest in Macedonia). It is located only 15 km from Macedonia’s second biggest city Bitola, and makes for an invigorating natural escape from urban life.
Pelister is characterized by lush, well-watered forests and unique geological formations, which include layers of Paleozoic and Mesozoic magma rock and layers of quartz. The core of the mountain is made of granite, some even 465 million years old. The mountain has a large number of peaks higher than 2000 meters separated by deep valleys.
Mt. Pelister itself stands magisterially at 2,601 meters high. The park is also rich in springs, streams and rivers, and contains two glacial lakes locally known as the Pelister’s Eyes. Especially interesting for the tourists is the touristic - recreative zone, whose spaces belong to the second category of natural values with specific natural characteristics and beauties that can be used for holidays and recreation. Here belong the zone "Big Valley" and zone "Low Field".
The tale of two lakes
Pelister is also known for its two mountain lakes, which are called Pelister's Eyes. The Big Lake is 2,218 metres above the sea level while the Small Lake is 2,180 metres high. Here are the sources of many rivers. The climate in Pelister National Park is diverse. On the peaks, there is snow even in July, and in some places the new snow meets the old from previous years.
There is a legend about their formation: It is said that the lakes were formed from the tears of the two sisters who were in love with the beautiful boy named Pelister. But their mother wouldn't allow either of them to marry him. In a moment of anger, she sent them to the mountain and cursed them to be close to each other, but not to be able to see each other.
Wandering through the forest, one of the sisters came to the place known today as the "Big Lake," and the other sister to the place known as the "Small Lake." Heartbroken, they both began to cry. They were crying so much that from their tears two beautiful lakes formed. Due to their rarity and high altitude, these two lakes were part of a competition in Macedonia to identify the new Seven World Wonders.
Pelister National Park is filled with exquisite flora and fauna. Among flora elements, the presence is especially significant of the five-needle pine molica, Pinus peuce - a unique species of tertiary age being present on only a few mountains in the Balkan Peninsula.
The Molika woods are particularly representative of the significant natural wealth of this area. As an endemic species, which is rarely found in other areas, it has scientific as well as aesthetic value. There is the particularly rare species Taxus baccata, while the species Vaccinium uliginosum is a glacial relict, and Trollius europeaneus is considered to be a boreal relict.
The beauty of the landscape is enhanced by the diversified wildlife: wild horses, bears, roe deer, wolves, chamois, deer, wild boars, rabbits, several species of eagles, partridges, redbilled jackdaws, and the endemic Macedonian Pelagonia trout.
The climate in Pelister National Park is diverse. On the peaks, there is snow even in July, and in some places remains year-round on the mountain. The park is full of a rich variety of flora and fauna: beech and oak woods, mountain pastures, numerous healing herbs, and various fruit including strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Picking these fruit is one of the main attractions for visitors to these areas.
From Pelister one can see the Pelagonia valley, Lake Prespa, mountains Nidže, Galičica, Jakupica, and the city of Bitola. Interestingly, Pelister is one of the most southern mountains in the Balkans that has an alpine character.
Churches and monasteries
Pelister National Park has undertaken to mark and maintain a hiking footpath that would enable all nature lovers and cultural heritage admirers to visit the churches and monasteries of the villages on the slopes of Mount Pelister. Around Pelister, there are 40 churches and monasteries dating from as early as the 12th century.
The first part of the footpath begins in the village of Trnovo and, through the villages of Magarevo and Rotino, leads to the village of Capari, while its second part passes by the churches and monasteries in the village of Maloviste.
Those who decide to take an exciting walk along this path will first visit the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God on the outskirts of the village of Trnovo. This church, built in 1854, is at the very entrance to the village. It was entirely destroyed in WWI and many of its valuable relics were lost without trace.
In the 1930s the Trnovo church was reconstructed by the local population and it again became the centre of the village's spiritual life. In recent years the church's yard has been a summer meeting place for emigrants living in European and overseas countries, as well as for the Macedonians who were driven out of Greece in the wake of the Greek Civil War.
From the village of Trnovo, the hiking footpath continues to the village of Magarevo, where a Church was built in 1834 and dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Dimitry. During WWI, this church shared the same fate as the church in Trnovo it was entirely destroyed and nothing of its interior remained.
On their way to Capari, the visitors pass through Rotino, where they can see St. Nicholas's Church and St. Elijah's Monastery. The picturesque trail that leads to St. Elijah's Monastery starts from the last house of the village and, through the thick oak forest, twines up to the bosom of Mount Pelister.
The second part of the trail takes the visitor to the village of Maloviste and its surroundings. This village, like few others, boasts an extraordinary cultural and spiritual heritage, as it has remained untouched and is thereby able to testify about the life and centuries long customs that have endured in this part of Macedonia. At 1,410 m above sea level, 2.5 km southeast of the village of Maloviste, in the midst of an oak forest, the Monastery of St. Anna stands high between the tall trees. There are records testifying that it was there as early as the mid 18th century.
High on Mount Baba, beneath the peak called The Pyramid, at 2,000 m above sea level, is the church of the Holy Saviour, dedicated to Christ's resurrection. It has been built by the people of faith on the very rocks of the mountain. The peak, where the small belfry stands, offers a grandstand view of Lake Prespa.
Paradise for hikers and mount bikers
The rocky trail is marked educational trail, leading the visitors through very attractive scenery, rich in natural beauties. Throughout the trail, the visitor can enjoy the dense Molika pine forests, witness rare and endemic floral species and specific relief forms, created by long and complicated natural processes. There are also fossil relicts dating from the glacial stage.
Most of trail passes though a high mountain area offering breathtaking views on the surrounding landscape. The most captivating natural beauty along the trail might be the rocky area, spreading from the summit Pelister in the direction of the summit Stiv. This magnificent relief form is comprised of large number of stone blocks with different size and shape, spread across the whole length of this dominating slope. The rocky trail is marked with signs and information boards ire placed along the trail. The trail has a view point and a covered hut. Your guide though this trail is the guide service of Pelister National Park.
Pelister offers breathtaking challenges for the mount biking lovers with its trails.
The 35 km trail from Hotel Molika to Malovishta village is bike track to the only settlement in the borders of the national park Pelister, lovely village of Malovishta which is a fountain of folklore motifs, authentic old Macedonian architecture, churches, monasteries and historical recognition. This trail is recommended for everyone.
The 35 km trail from the Hotel Molika to the Great Lake is 3 parts mount bike track of which the second is most difficult while climbing to the peaks at 2,180m. Offers unbelievable opportunities for breathtaking panorama and sightsee. It is recommended for experienced bikers.
The biggest challenge is 1.9 km trail from Kopanki via Hotel Molika to Children Hostel that takes only 5 minutes to pass, but the experience is unforgettable. It’s a mount bike track with extreme furious letdown, bumps and jumps and fast curves. Unforgettable mixture of high speed, adrenaline flow and skillfulness, it’s also ideal for organizing mount bike contests and races.
The Baba Mountain has many interesting places that are waiting to be discovered. If you are archeology lover, you can visit the settlements from the Iron Age and the medieval period that are near the park. Following the ancient path Via Ignatius which passes through the Park you will have a unique opportunity to walk the same road that traveled the Apostle Paul, the Macedonian Phalanx, the Roman Legions and the Byzantine Tsars.
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