What is the highest mountain in the Balkan Peninsula?

The highest mountain in the Balkan Peninsula is Musala. Its summit reaches 2,925.42 metres in Bulgaria's Rila Mountains, making it higher than Mount Olympus, Vihren and Mount Korab.

Musala lies within Rila National Park in southwestern Bulgaria. The name comes through Ottoman Turkish from the Arabic musalla, meaning a place for prayer. From the summit, clear conditions can reveal many of Bulgaria's major ranges, including Vitosha, the Balkan Mountains, Pirin and the Rhodope Mountains.

The mountain has a notably harsh alpine climate. It is often described as the coldest location in Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula, with snow cover lasting for much of the year. Three important Bulgarian rivers—the Iskar, Maritsa and Mesta—rise in the surrounding highlands.

Musala also has a scientific history. A cosmic-ray station was built near the summit in 1960 with help from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It used a muon telescope for experiments until an electrical fire destroyed the station in 1983. A common mistake is choosing Mount Olympus because of its fame: Olympus is Greece's highest mountain, but Musala is higher.