Battle of MaritsaThe Battle of Maritsa or Battle of Chernomen (Marička bitka/ Маричка битка, Çirmen Muharebesi, İkinci Meriç Muharebesi in tr. Second Battle of Maritsa) took place at the Maritsa River near the village of Chernomen (present-day Ormenio, Greece) on 26 September 1371 between Ottoman forces commanded by Lala Şahin Pasha and Evrenos, and Serbian forces commanded by King Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his brother Despot Jovan Uglješa. In 1354, the Ottomans acquired Gallipoli. From there, they expanded into Thrace, taking the important city of Adrianople in 1369.
BelasicaBelasica (Macedonian and Bulgarian: , also translit. Belasitsa or Belasitza, Ottoman Turkish: بلش Turkish: Beleş), Belles (Μπέλλες, Bélles) or Kerkini (Κερκίνη, Kerkíni;), is a mountain range in the region of Macedonia in Southeastern Europe, shared by northeastern Greece (about 45%), southeastern North Macedonia (35%) and southwestern Bulgaria (20%). The mountain range is fault-block mountain about long and wide and is situated just northeast of Dojran Lake.
Vergina SunThe Vergina Sun (Ilios tis Vergínas), also known as the Star of Vergina, Vergina Star or Argead Star is a rayed solar symbol first appearing in ancient Greek art of the period between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. The Vergina Sun proper has sixteen triangular rays, while comparable symbols of the same period variously have sixteen, twelve, eight or (rarely) six rays. The name "Vergina Sun" became widely used after the archaeological excavations in and around the small town of Vergina, in northern Greece, during the late 1970s.
Pirin MacedoniaPirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia (Пиринска Македония; Българска Македония) (Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya) is the third-biggest part of the geographical region of Macedonia, today in southwestern Bulgaria. This region coincides with the borders of the Blagoevgrad Province, as well as the surrounding area of Barakovo from the Kyustendil Province. After World War I, Strumica and the surrounding area were broken away from the region and were ceded to Yugoslavia. It covers an area of about 6,798 km2, which is 10.
Battle of KlokotnitsaThe Battle of Klokotnitsa (Битката при Клокотница, Bitkata pri Klokotnitsa) occurred on 9 March 1230 near the village of Klokotnitsa (today in Haskovo Province, Bulgaria) between the Second Bulgarian Empire and the Empire of Thessalonica. As a result, Bulgaria emerged once again as the most powerful state in South-Eastern Europe. Around 1221–1222 Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria made an alliance with Theodore Komnenos Doukas, the ruler of Epirus.
Šar MountainsThe Šar Mountains (Serbian and Macedonian: Шар Планина, Šar Planina; colloquially also Шара, Šara) or Sharr Mountains (Malet e Sharrit) is a mountain range extending from southern Kosovo to northwestern North Macedonia. The sections in Kosovo, and in Šar Mountains National Park (North Macedonia) are national parks. Rugged and barren, the mountains are among the highest on the Balkans, with 30 peaks higher than .
VallahadesThe Vallahades (Βαλαχάδες) or Valaades (Βαλαάδες) were a Muslim Macedonian Greek population who lived along the river Haliacmon in southwest Greek Macedonia, in and around Anaselitsa (modern Neapoli) and Grevena. They numbered about 17,000 in the early 20th century. They are a frequently referred-to community of late-Ottoman Empire converts to Islam, because, like the Cretan Muslims, and unlike most other communities of Greek Muslims, the Vallahades retained many aspects of their Greek culture and continued to speak Greek for both private and public purposes.
