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Doesn’t look very Greek, right? It’s the Serbian-built chapel in the peak of Prophet Elijah, Mount Voras (Kaimaktsalan), Greece. Serbs built this chapel in remembrance of their fallen soldiers in a battle nearby against the Bulgarian army during WWI.

Photo by giorgos.siat on Instagram.

#greece #history #wwi #ww1 history #balkans #mountains #chapel #christianity #serbia #balkan history #prophet elijah #voras #kaimaktsalan #florina #macedonia #mainland #greek facts #not greek but I gotta use the tag to have some order here you know

Kaimaktsalan

#kaimaktsalan #mountain #snow #winter #cheimon

Autumn colours in the village of Paliós Ágios Athanásios, Mt Kaimaktsalan, Greece by @md_desp_ via Instagram

#greece #mountains #europe #travel #fall #autumn #village #mainland #palios agios athanasios #macedonia #kaimaktsalan #voras #pella

The Serbian-built Orthodox chapel of Saint Peter in the top of Mt Kaimaktsalan, Greece. The peak itself, however, is named after Prophet Elijah.

Photo by George Soumelidis.

#greece #europe #travel #chapel #mountains #christianity #kaimaktsalan #voras #serbian #christian orthodox #pella #macedonia #mainland

You know where it's at. ========== #altitude #lakeview #vegoritida #kaimaktsalan #roadtrip #mazda #mx5 #mx5miata #mx5nd #mx5rf #mazdamx5 #mazdastories #miata #mx5rf #nderc #mazdaroadster #miatagram #roadster #topmiata #miataclub #miatahub #miatasofinstagram #jdmlove #マツダ #ロードスター (at Voras Mountains) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnHB4QlL1_3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Mt. Kaimàktsalan or Vòras [Καϊμάκτσαλαν, Βόρας]

This post was left as a draft for over 2 years. Now that this extraordinary COVID19 lockdown circumstances have provided me with a lot of free time for reflection and past revisits, I’ve been looking through my older draft posts in my blog and move them forward for publishing! All of the above photos were taken in January 2018, during a one day trip to mount Kaimàktsalan, or Vòras, which lies as a natural border between Greece and North Macedonia, in the region of central Macedonia. The name of the mountain has an Ottoman Turkish origin from “kaymakçalan”, meaning white snowy peak. During this trip I accompanied a keen ski mountaineer friend, and while he was skiing the virgin slopes of the mountain I wondered about, reaching its peak, which rewarded me with spectacular winter views, clear blue skies and a lot of snow.

The third tallest mountain of Greece, after Òlymbos and Smòlikas, with a summit at 2,524m (Profitis Elias), Kaimàktsalan is part of the EU protected areas network (NATURA 2000, GR1240001 and GR1240008). As you can see from the photos the view from the top of the mountain is breathtaking. As is the case in many peaks throughout Greece, there is a small chapel on the top, and a couple of old and wrecked abandoned buildings. One can see beautiful beech forests, but also extended alpine pastures, lower in the mountain.

The mountain is quite steep, and there aren’t any settlements on it, however, Kaimàktsalan used to be an important place for Sarakatsànous (an ethnic Greek population subgroup, who were traditionally transhumant shepherds, native to Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbouring Bulgaria, southern Albania, and North Macedonia). The mountain and its pastures have been a centuries-old "summer" herding area for Sarakatsan nomadic shepherds, who were spending their winters in central Macedonia (mostly Halkidiki) and Thessaly. Prior to the definitive border demarcation among the south balkan states during the first decades of the 20th century, Sarakatsànoi shephards reached and settled on areas and peaks in the Kaimàktsalan mountain. The alpine pastures in the mountainous region of Kaimàktsalan were picked out by the experienced Sarakatsanous goat and sheep breeders, since they possess unique characteristics, scarce or even absent in other mountains of Greece.