Pelagonia

This article is about the geographical plain between North Macedonia and Greece. For the political unit in North Macedonia, see Pelagonia Statistical Region.
Not to be confused with Palagonia.
Location of Pelagonia
Pelagonia seen from Baba Mountain, Bitola.

Pelagonia (Macedonian: Пелагонија, romanized: Pelagonija; Greek: Πελαγονία, romanized: Pelagonía) is a geographical region of Macedonia named after the ancient kingdom. Ancient Pelagonia roughly corresponded to the present-day municipalities of Bitola, Prilep, Mogila, Novaci, Kruševo, and Krivogaštani in North Macedonia and to the municipalities of Florina, Amyntaio and Prespes in Greece.

History

Map of the Kingdom of Macedon with Pelagonia located in the northwest districts of the kingdom.

In antiquity, Pelagonia was roughly bounded by Paeonia to the north and east, Lynkestis and Almopia to the south and Illyria to the west; and was inhabited by the Pelagones, an Ancient Greek tribe of Upper Macedonia, who were centered at the Pelagonian plain and belonged to the Molossian tribal state or koinon.[1][2][3] The region was annexed to the Macedonian kingdom during the 4th century BC and became one of its administrative provinces. In medieval times, when the names of Lynkestis and Orestis had become obsolete, Pelagonia acquired a broader meaning. This is why the Battle of Pelagonia (1259) between Byzantines and Latins includes also the current Kastoria regional unit and ancient Orestis.

Strabo calls Pelagonia by the name Tripolitis[4] and names only one ancient city of the supposed three in the region; Azorus. Two notable Pelagonians include the mythological Pelagon, the eponym of the region, who, according to Greek mythology, was son of the river-god Axius (modern Axios or Vardar river) and father of the Paeonian Asteropaeus in Homer's Iliad. 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.[5]

Today, Pelagonia is a plain shared between North Macedonia and the Greek region of Macedonia. It incorporates the southern cities of Bitola and Prilep 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[citation needed] and are exhibited in the Museum of Bitola.[citation needed]

Monastir Gap

The Monastir Gap is a geographical and historical term referring to the section of the Greece-North Macedonia border at the Pelagonia plain. The gap is named after Monastir (the historical name for Bitola), which is the largest city in the plain. While most of Greece's northern border is marked by geographical barriers such as mountains and lakes, or by narrow, easily defensible valleys, the Monastir Gap is a vast and wide open plain. As a result, it has played a crucial role in various Balkan military campaigns.

During the Balkan Wars, the Greek Army captured Florina in November 1912, and intended to capture the entire Pelagonian plain, including the city of Monastir (Bitola). However, upon hearing of the Bulgarian advance towards Thessaloniki, the Greek army diverted and marched towards the Macedonian capital, thus leaving the northern Greek border in Pelagonia at the village of Negochani (today, Niki, Greece). As a result, most of the Pelagonian plain was annexed by Serbia and the Monastir Gap was born.

In World War I, the Monastir Gap was of major strategic importance. It was the site of significant battles during the Macedonian front, as the Allies and Central Powers fought to control this key route. As one of the few flat areas in the region, control of the gap allowed movement of troops and supplies between Greece, Albania and Serbia. The Monastir Gap was central to the Monastir Offensive, an Allied operation aimed at breaking the stalemate on the Macedonian front.

In April 1941, during the German-led Operation Marita, the Monastir Gap again became a critical invasion route. German forces, specifically the XL Panzer Corps, advanced through the gap from Yugoslavia into Greece, seizing the town of Florina on 10 April. This maneuver outflanked the Allied defensive positions along the Vermio Mountains, leading to engagements such as the Battle of Vevi on 11–12 April. The rapid German advance through the Monastir Gap compromised the Allied defensive line, contributing to the swift occupation of mainland Greece.[6]

While the Monastir Gap was not the focal point of major battles during the Greek Civil War, its geographical significance persisted. The pass's proximity to the Yugoslav border made it a potential route for the movement of arms and personnel. Control over such border regions was crucial for both the government forces and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), as they sought to secure supply lines and restrict enemy movements. However, the most intense fighting during the civil war occurred in other mountainous regions of northern Greece.

Environment

Important Bird Area

A 137,000 ha tract of the plain has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of ferruginous ducks, white storks, Dalmatian pelicans, Eurasian thick-knees, little owls, Eurasian scops owls, European rollers, lesser kestrels and lesser grey shrikes.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Strabo 9.5: For in consequence of the renown and ascendency of the Thessalians and Macedonians, those Epeirote, who bordered nearest upon them, became, some voluntarily, others by force, incorporated among the Macedonians and Thessalians. In this manner the Athamanes, Aethices, and Talares were joined to the Thessalians, and the Orestae, Pelagones, and Elimiotae to the Macedonians.
  2. ^ John Boardman and N. G. L. Hammond. The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 3: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982, p. 284.
  3. ^ A J Toynbee. Some Problems of Greek History, Pp 80; 99-103
  4. ^ Strabo. Geographica, 7.327.
  5. ^ Bosworth, A.B. "Philip II and Upper Macedonia", CQ, 21 (1971).
  6. ^ "World War: Balkan Theater: The Whole Story". TIME. 12 May 1941. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Pelagonia". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.

41°00′00″N 21°21′00″E / 41.0000°N 21.3500°E / 41.0000; 21.3500