Baba Mountain (Pelister)

Baba or Baba Mountain – a mountain located in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia, located a few kilometers west of Bitola.

The legend about the origin of the name Baba Planina was written by Sotir Petrevski from Diovci (“Autobiography” in typewriter. Legend says that there once lived a grandmother (Baba) who had goats, so when the month of March passed, the grandmother drove the goats to graze in the mountains, saying: “Don’t worry gotas, March is over and we are going to have a good weather” March, offended by the grandmother, borrowed three days from April. During those three days, so much snow fell and it was so cold that the grandmother and the goats froze and since then the mountain has been called Baba.

It is often called Pelister (Old Macedonian: Pelistera · i – dove), although it is only the name of its highest peak. According to the area it covers (436 km2) it is the thirteenth largest, and according to the height (Pelister, 2,601 m) the third highest mountain in Republic of Macedonia.

In 1948, due to the special natural beauties, historical and scientific significance of the forests and forest areas of Mount Baba, a part of it with an area of ​​12,500 hectares, was declared a national park.

Baba is located between Pelagonija in the east and the Prespa Valley in the west. It is, in fact, a horst between these two valleys, more precisely between the Bitola Field in the east and the Resen Field and Lake Prespa in the west. The northern border of Baba is the overpass Gjavato (1,169 m), which separates it from the mountain Bigla, as well as the small Caparska Valley. To the south, the mountain continues in Greece until the Bigla pass (1,505 m), which separates it from the Neredska Mountain (Vich, 2,125 m), located in Greece. The western part of the Macedonian-Greek border stretches across its southern part, through the peak ‘Rzana (2,334 m). Approximately 65% ​​of the Baba mountain range is located on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, while 35% on the territory of Greece.

Baba has a direction extending from north to south, and is also characterized by a symmetrical appearance, because the mountain ridge is equally distant from the Prespa Valley and Pelagonija.

Glacial land forms are also present, which originate from the Pleistocene, when glaciers were located in the high parts of Baba. From the glacial forms, circuses and moray eels are present. There are circuses at an altitude of over 2000 m, and two of them are filled with water – the Big and the Small Lake, which are popularly called Pelister Eyes. The Great Lake is located at 2218 m above sea level, with a length of 233 m, width 162 m and depth 14.5 m. The Small Lake is located at 2180 m above sea level and has dimensions – 79 m long, 68 m wide and 2.6 m deep.