Pelagonia ( mk, Пелагонија, Pelagonija; el, Πελαγονíα, Pelagonía) is a geographical region of Macedonia named after the ancient kingdom. Ancient Pelagonia roughly corresponded to the present-day municipalities of

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

Prilep Prilep ( mk, Прилеп ) is the fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 and is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko. Name The name of Prilep appea ...

, Mogila, Novaci,

Kruševo Kruševo ( mk, Крушево ; rup, Crushuva "Crușuva") is a town in North Macedonia. In Macedonian the name means the 'place of pear trees'. It is the highest town in North Macedonia and one of the highest in the Balkans, situated at an alt ...

, and Krivogaštani in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

and to the municipalities of Florina,

Amyntaio Amyntaio ( el, Αμύνταιο, before 1928: Σόροβιτς - ''Sorovits''; Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Суровичево, Сорович), is a town and municipality in the Florina regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio ...

and Prespes in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

History

In antiquity, Pelagonia was roughly bounded by Paeonia to the north and east,

Lynkestis Lynkestis, Lyncestis, Lyngistis, Lynkos or Lyncus ( grc, Λυγκηστίς or Λύγκος la, Lyncestis or ''Lyncus'') was a region and principality traditionally located in Upper Macedonia. It was the northernmost mountainous region of Upper ...

and

Almopia Almopia ( el, Αλμωπία), or Enotia, also known in the Middle Ages as Moglena (Greek: Μογλενά, Macedonian and Bulgarian: Меглен or Мъглен), is a municipality and a former province (επαρχία) of the Pella regional un ...

to the south and

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

to the west; and was inhabited by the Pelagones, an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

tribe of

Upper Macedonia Upper Macedonia ( Greek: Ἄνω Μακεδονία, ''Ánō Makedonía'') is a geographical and tribal term to describe the upper/western of the two parts in which, together with Lower Macedonia, the ancient kingdom of Macedon was roughly divide ...

, who were centered at the Pelagonian

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

and belonged to the Molossian tribal state or '' koinon''. The region was annexed to the

Macedonian kingdom Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...

during the 4th century BC and became one of its administrative provinces. In medieval times, when the names of

and Orestis had become obsolete, Pelagonia acquired a broader meaning. This is why the

Battle of Pelagonia The Battle of Pelagonia or Battle of Kastoriae.g. ; . took place in early summer or autumn 1259, between the Empire of Nicaea and an anti-Nicaean alliance comprising Despotate of Epirus, Sicily and the Principality of Achaea. It was a decisive ev ...

(1259) between Byzantines and Latins includes also the current Kastoria regional unit and ancient Orestis. Strabo calls Pelagonia by the name ''Tripolitis'' and names only one ancient city of the supposed three in the region;

Azorus Azorus or Azoros ( grc, Ἄζωρος or Ἀζώριον) was a town and polis (city-state) in Perrhaebia in ancient Thessaly situated at the foot of Mount Olympus. Azorus, with the two neighbouring towns of Pythium and Doliche, formed a Tripol ...

. Two notable Pelagonians include the mythological Pelagon, the eponym of the region, who, according to

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, was son of the river-god Axius (modern Axios or Vardar river) and father of the Paeonian

Asteropaeus In the ''Iliad'', Asteropaios (; Greek: Ἀστεροπαῖος; Latin: ''Asteropaeus'') was a leader of the Trojan-allied Paeonians along with fellow warrior Pyraechmes. Family Asteropaios was the son of Pelagon, who was the son of the river ...

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...

''. The second one is Menelaus of Pelagonia (ca. 360 BC) who, according to Bosworth, fled his kingdom when it was annexed by Philip II, finding refuge and citizenship in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

.Bosworth, A.B. "Philip II and Upper Macedonia", CQ, 21 (1971). Today, Pelagonia is a plain shared between

and the Greek region of Macedonia. It incorporates the southern cities of

and

in North Macedonia and the northwestern city of Florina in Greece; it is also the location of Medžitlija-Niki, a key border crossing between the two countries. Many Mycenaean objects have been found in the area, such as the double axe, later found in

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; grc, Μυκῆναι or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. ...

and are exhibited in the Museum of Bitola.

Environment

Important Bird Area

A 137,000 ha tract of the plain has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it supports populations of ferruginous ducks,

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to e ...

s, Dalmatian pelicans, Eurasian thick-knees,

little owl The little owl (''Athene noctua''), also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at ...

s, Eurasian scops owls, European rollers, lesser kestrels and

lesser grey shrike The lesser grey shrike (''Lanius minor'') is a member of the shrike family ''Laniidae''. It breeds in South and Central Europe and western Asia in the summer and migrates to winter quarters in southern Africa in the early autumn, returning in sp ...

References

External links

Pelagonian margins in central Evia island (Greece)The oldest rocks of Greece: first evidence for a Precambrian terrane within the Pelagonian Zone
{{coord, 41.0000, N, 21.3500, E, source:wikidata, display=title Upper Macedonia Plains of Greece Plains of Europe Ancient Macedonia Geography of North Macedonia Bitola Municipality Resen Municipality Landforms of Florina (regional unit) Landforms of Western Macedonia Prilep Municipality Geography of ancient Macedonia Important Bird Areas of North Macedonia

History

Environment

Important Bird Area

See also

References

External links