VAVILON

This mountain range (Кожуф, pronounced "kojouf") covers almost 900 ^km2, mainly in Northern Macedonia. But its peak, Megali Tzena, is in Greece, at 2,182 m above sea level and 500 m as the crow flies from the border. Called Tzena/Τζένα in Greek, the massif has seven other peaks above 2,000 m, including Zelen Breg (2,172 m) in Northern Macedonia and Pinovo (2,156 m) in Greece. On both sides of the border, this region remains undeveloped. The closure of the small Macedonian ski resort in 2020 has not helped matters. The site of a Franco-Greek breakthrough against the Bulgarian army in 1917, Mount Kožuf remains especially marked by the Greek civil war of 1946-1949. Important clashes took place here between the Greek-Yugoslav communist troops and the Greek national army supported by the Americans and the British. So much so that in 1948, the entire population of a hundred villages of the massif was evacuated by both sides. The part located in present-day North Macedonia remained a prohibited zone, reserved for the Yugoslav army until independence in 1991. This region, half covered by forests, remains very wild. There are few marked trails on the Macedonian side. As for the fauna, if poachers have made most of the deer disappear, we note the occasional presence of the bear. The Balkan lynx, the rarest and most endangered mammal of Southeast Europe, could also pass through from time to time, according to some scientists.