Easily overlooked, by hikers and historians, Bitola, Macedonia was the site of some of the fiercest and deadliest fighting of WWI.
The Thessaloniki Front, or the Macedonian Front, ran through Bitola as decades-old regional conflicts escalated into global battles during the First World War. Trench warfare, synonymous with WWI, ensnarled Central and Allied Powers outside of Bitola.
Some of those trenches remain in Pelister National Park. Established in 1948, Pelister is the all-weather outdoor playground and nature reserve for southern (North) Macedonia. The Park has numerous hiking trails including one, beginning at the Information Center, dedicated to WWI and a darker chapter of local history, one that is usually forgotten.
Follow Matt through this (now) quiet route, surrounded by lush vegetation and giant pine trees. With some imagination, and assistance of photographs, viewers can gain a sense of battlefront warfare from a hundred years ago.
Budget Travel NORTH MACEDONIA #3:
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