MOUNTAIN SAR

View over Mountain Sar

View over Mountain Sar
 

Mountain Sar is the biggest mountain in the Republic of Macedonia. It is 80 km long and 25-30 km wide and it covers an area of 1.600km2. It is located on the north-west part of the country between Kosovo and Metohia in Yugoslavia on the north, and Polog on the south. Mountain Sar belongs to the group of young mountains. Mountain Sar is made of metamorph cristal slates, limestone, and serpentine from the era of the Palezoic and Mezozoic. Mountain Sar is a high mountain. There are few peaks higher than 2.500m such as Titov Vrv (2,747m), Turcin (2,702m), Borislavec (2,662m), Rudoka (2,610m), Ezerska Cuka (2,606m), Crn Vrv (2,585m), Kobilica (2,528m) ect. The average rainfall on Mountain Sar is about 1,030mm of rain per year per square metre.

The snowfalls reach up to 2m. When the snow melts it creates erosive rivers that carry material and deposit them in the valley. On the slopes of Mountain Sar many rivers spring such as: Vardar, Radika, Lepenec, Pena, Prizrenska Bistrica, Lesoska Reka ect. During the ice period Mountain Sar was covered with glaciers hundreds of metres thick. As a result of that the ice erosion developed.
When the climate changed the glaciers melted and frosty lakes or the so-called "forest eyes" were created. There are 39 frosty lakes on Mountain Sar, of which 25 are permanent, and 14 temporary lakes. The most popular are: Livadicko, Belo, Golem Gjol ect. According to the number of lakes Mountain Sar is first in the country and second on the Balkans. From the deciduous trees oak and beech grow on Mountain Sar as well as the pine and the fir trees from the vergreens. But Mountain Sar’s resources are not the forests, but its spacious pastures that take up 10,000 hectares and are the biggest grass areas in the country. The mountain is full with wild animals such as: wolves, bears, lynx, deer, wild pigs, foxes, chamois, rabbits etc.

Macedonian Sarplaninec

Macedonian Sarplaninec
From the domestic animals the most popular are the sheep and the dog called Sarplaninec known for its strength. Mountain Sar is the biggest air spa during the summer, and in winter a real snow beauty. The area allows for the development of all the winter sports. The cabel railway Tetovo-Popova Sapka was built for that purpose as were some of the tourist accommodation capacities.