Pindus
| Pindus | ||
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| Highest peak | Smolikas ( 2632 m ) | |
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| Coordinates | 40 ° 6 ′ N , 20 ° 56 ′ E | |
The Pindos (also Pindos Mountains ; Greek Πίνδος ) is a high mountain range in southeastern Europe and part of the Hellenids . It stretches for more than 150 kilometers in a north-south direction and separates the Greek landscape of Epirus in the west from Macedonia and Thessaly in the east. In the north the Pindus Mountains extend into Albania. In the southeast the Pindus merges into the Agrafa Mountains . The Pindos is the watershed between the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea .
At 2632 m, the Smolikas is the highest Pindus peak and the second highest mountain in Greece after Olympus ( 2917 m ). Like the mountain ranges Grammos , Tymfi , Smolikas and Mitsikeli, it belongs to the northern Pindus . In the southern Pindos , for example, there is the Lakmos massif and the Tymfristos, which is used for skiing .
The Vikos Gorge is also located in the Pindos Mountains . The Vikos Aoos National Park in the northwest and the Pindos National Park in Western Macedonia are of interest to hikers. East of the Pindus Mountains, the Meteora monasteries are of particular tourist interest.
The national road 20 crosses the Pindus south of the border with Albania. In the course of the national road 38 in southern Pindus, the 1300 meter long Tymfristos tunnel was completed at the beginning of the 21st century , which makes it unnecessary to cross a 1200 meter high pass. The important motorway 2 , which connects Igoumenitsa with Thessaloniki , runs from west to east by means of many elaborate engineering structures through the mountains. This is roughly the border between the northern and southern Pindus.
In Greek mythology, the Pindus is considered one of the places where the Muses around Apollo gather. The name of the high mountains translates as "the white one" and goes back to a common Indo-European root with German words like "white" and "wheat".
Researchers found the oldest tree in Europe in the Pindus Mountains, a 1075 year old armored pine . The tree already existed in 941. It stands at the tree line at an altitude of over 2000 meters. Its annual rings can also be used to research the climate of the last thousand years.
Web links
- Pindos National Park (German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefanie Hoppe: Mainz researchers find Europe's oldest tree. In: SWR.de. August 25, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016 .