Pelister

Pelister National Park was established in 1948 in south-western North Macedonia, on the Baba massif, and protects some 171 km². It was the country's first national park.

Its main botanical asset is the Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce), a five-needled conifer endemic to the Balkans and relict from the Tertiary, which here forms the most extensive and best-preserved woods of the species. Locally it is called molika, and some trees are more than two hundred years old.

At the higher altitudes, above two thousand metres, lie Pelister's Eyes, two clear-water glacial lakes among the highest in the Balkans, evidence of Quaternary glaciation on the massif. The summit, Pelister, rises above 2,600 metres. The wildlife includes brown bear, wolf, Balkan chamois and a trout endemic to the high-altitude lakes. On the slopes of the massif survive traditional villages of stone architecture, and the park borders the city of Bitola, the country's second largest.