Maja Jezercë

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Maja Jezercë
Jezerca Massive.jpg
Maja Jezercë as seen from Maja Trojan
Elevation 2,694 m (8,839 ft)[1]
Prominence 2,036 m (6,680 ft)[2]
Listing Ultra
Translation Lake Peak (Albanian)
Maja Jezercë is located in Albania
Maja Jezercë
Maja Jezercë
Location Shkodër District, Albania
Range Albanian Alps (Prokletije), Dinaric Alps
Coordinates 42°26′33″N 19°48′51″E﻿ / ﻿42.44250°N 19.81417°E﻿ / 42.44250; 19.81417Coordinates: 42°26′33″N 19°48′51″E﻿ / ﻿42.44250°N 19.81417°E﻿ / 42.44250; 19.81417[2]
Type Limestone
First ascent 1929 by Sleeman, Elmslie and Ellwood
Easiest route North slope

Maja Jezercë (Albanian: Maja Jezercë), is the highest point of the Albanian Alps/Prokletije and the entire Dinaric Alps, standing at 2,694 m (8,839 ft) AMSL.

Location and surroundings[edit]

The mountain peak in Albania, which is just five kilometres from the border with Montenegro, lies between the valleys of the Valbona to the east and the Shala in the west. In part, the whole floor between the valley of Shala, Valbona and Ropojana and Maja Roshit (2,522 metres) is known as Jezerca, in addition to the peak, Jezerca borders other peaks such as the Maja Popluks (2,569 metres) and the Maja e Ali (2,471 metres) in the west, the Maja Rrogamit (2,478 metres) to the east, Maja Kolajet (2,498 metres), Maja Malësores (2,490 metres) and Maja Bojës (2,461 metres) in the northwest and the Maja e Kokerhanës (2,508 metres ) and Maja Etheve (2,393 metres) in the north.

Apart from certain areas north of the Jezerca peak the mountain massif is part of the two National Parks of Thethi and Valbona.[3]

The summit can be climbed from the North without major equipment. Most climbers come from Gusinje in Montenegro or from Theth in the Shala valley.[4]

Topology and geography[edit]

Cirque of Buni i Jezercës with lakes

Jezerca is a large rocky peak of dolomitic limestone. There is almost no vegetation there. North, east and west of the mountain top is in great cirque from that in the glacial periods when glaciers were more extensive than today. Today the northern cirque is called Buni i Jezercës at a height of 1980 metres and 2,100 metres in height around 400 metres. Because it is located in the wettest region of Europe with around 6 metres (240 in) of rainfall equivalent believed to fall on the western slopes, snowfall is so large that only in dry years do even the less exposed sections melt away.[5]

Name and meaning[edit]

The name Jezerski Vrh means lake peak in Serbian. This name refers to the cirque lakes in the lower part of the Buni i Jezercës on the northern side of the mountain.

Maja Jezercë is known to be the focal point in many old tales of the Malesori people (specifically the Kelmendi clan) The Albanian name comes from the Serbian word[citation needed] "језеро/jezero" (English "lake") and "maja" means "top" or "peak". In Albanian it was called Maja e Jezercës.

During the Communist era in Albania it had been given the name of Maja e Rinisë (Mountain of Youth), which never stuck.[4]

First Ascents[edit]

In 1929 British climbers Sleeman, Elmslie and Ellwood reached the summit of Maja Jezercë on the 26th of July. Earlier the same year, some Italian surveyors had climbed the Mountain and built a cairn.[6]

We got to the top at 8.45. Arrived there we found a recently built cairn – no doubt made by the Italian survey party we had been told about in Thethi.

—Cyril Montague Sleeman, The Mountains of Albania


  1. ^ "Maja e Jezercës". Retrieved 2014-05-24. 
  3. ^ Florian Baba (Herausgeber): Linja e Gjelbër Shqiptare, Tirana 2008
  4. ^ a b "Summipost: Jezerca" (in German). Retrieved 2 August 2009. 
  5. ^ Milovan Milivojevića, Ljubomir Menkovića and Jelena Ćalić: Pleistocene glacial relief of the central part of Mt. Prokletije (Albanian Alps), in: Quaternary International, V. 190, 1, 1. November 2008, S. 112-122
  6. ^ Sleeman, Cyril Montague (1930). "The Mountains of Albania". The Alpine Journal (Alpine Club) 42 (240): 55–69. 

External links[edit]