Pohorje (), also known as the Pohorje Massif[Bogataj, Janez. 1999. Handicrafts of Slovenia: Encounters with Contemporary Slovene Craftsmen. Ljubljana: Rokus, p. 28.][Watkins, Clem S. 2003. The Balkans. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, p. 125.] or the Pohorje Mountains (, Bacherngebirge or often simply Bachern), is a mostly wooded, medium-high mountain range south of the Drava River in northeastern Slovenia. According to the traditional AVE classification it belongs to the Southern Limestone Alps. Geologically, it forms part of the Central Alps and features silicate metamorphic rock and igneous rock. Pohorje is sparsely populated with dispersed villages. There are also some ski resorts.
Geography
Pohorje is an
Alps mountain ridge with domed summits south of the Drava. It roughly lies in the triangle formed by the towns of
Maribor (to the east),
Dravograd (to the west) and Slovenske Konjice (to the south). To the northwest, it is bounded by the Mislinja River, to the south by the
Vitanje Lowlands (Vitanjsko podolje), to the east it descends to the
Drava Plain (Dravsko polje) and to the southeast it descends to the Pohorje Foothills (Podpohorske gorice). It measures about from east to west and from north to south and covers an area of ca. . Its highest elevations are Black Peak (, ) , the only slightly lower Big Kopa Peak (Velika Kopa), and Lake Peak (Jezerski vrh), which rises to . Forests cover over 70% of its surface.
Geology
Pohorje is a young mountain
massif and is the southeasternmost part of the
Central Alps.
It is the only mountain chain in Slovenia made of silicate rock. Its peripheral parts consist of
Paleozoic metamorphic rock, and its central parts of
igneous rock, particularly
granodiorite (known also as the Pohorje tonalite) and
dacite.
Near the village of Cezlak lies probably the only known deposit of cizlakite (quartz monzogabbro; a green plutonic rock). The southern parts of Pohorje are known for white marble, which was quarried in Roman times.
Pohorje ski resorts
The following ski resorts stand at Pohorje:
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Rogla Ski Resort
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Kope–Ribnica Pohorje Ski Resort
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Maribor Pohorje Ski Resort
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Trije Kralji Ski Resort
Radio towers
Near hilltops within the mountain range are located a TV and radio transmitter Pohorje and a military air-traffic control radar station RP-2.
Bibliography
Meteorology
External links
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Pohorje. Tourist Information Centre Maribor.
