Polisi is a

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

located in the municipality of

Librazhd Librazhd ( sq-definite, Librazhdi) is a town and a municipality in Elbasan County, southeast Albania. The municipality was reformed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Hotolisht, Librazhd, Lunik, Orenj ...

, in eastern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. Its highest peak, ''Maja e Polisit'', reaches a height of . The other important peak of the massif is Mali Plak, standing at above sea level.

Geology

Composed primarily of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and partly of ultrabasic rocks, the massif has the shape of a

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

with jagged edges. The upper section consists of glacial and karst relief forms (ridges, valleys, cirques, pits, funnels, etc.), with numerous water sources on its sides that feed the

Shkumbin The Shkumbin (; ), also known as Shkembi, is a river in Albania. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . Etymology It derives from Latin ''Scampinus'' (recorded alternatively as ), which replaced the Illyrian name o ...

river.

Biodiversity

The mountain mass is covered with oak and beech forests, as well as alpine summer pastures. Various endemic plants can be found here, including the Albanian lily, several types of violets and clovers (especially

Trifolium subterraneum ''Trifolium subterraneum'', the subterranean clover (often shortened to sub clover), subterranean trefoil, is a species of clover native to Europe, Southwest Asia, Northwest Africa and Macaronesia. The plant's name comes from its underground s ...

with high protein content). The southern limit of Polisi is a distribution area of the Alpine sunflower (

Leontopodium nivale ''Leontopodium nivale'', commonly called edelweiss () ( ; or ), is a mountain flower belonging to the daisy or sunflower family Asteraceae. The plant prefers rocky limestone places at about altitude. It is a non-toxic plant. Its leaves and f ...

). Mountain tea and orchid are abundant. There is also a reserve for wild boar. Some sections of the mountain contain iron-nickel ores and

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

History

In classical antiquity Polisi was a central mountain range in southern

Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...

, and was known as ''Kandavia'' (Kandauia) or ''Candaviae Montes'' (Candauiae Montes). It likely gave the name to the part of

Via Egnatia The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a contin ...

that followed the convergence of its two branches from Dyrrhachium and Apollonia, which was attested in

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

's ''Geography''..

References

Citations

Bibliography