well, balkans has long been a place of hidden enclaves and citadels, during the time of the Ottomans many monasteries cloistered up on hard to reach positions high in the mountains i think possibly the pole flip positions tend to be fairly stable over more recent history and that the location has been ideal for retreat during the interglacial periods for at least 24000 years, and the terrain perfect for citadels against imperial power, the most recent history like, maybe you know of the fact that north africa once was a very very wet place? maybe that is because, as i strongly now suspect, it was the old equator, cutting through from the baltics down through the balkans through the region between libya and egypt and chad there is other evidences of this being a former warm place as well during bad times, like the fact that the most ancient discoveries of gold come from the shores of the black sea, which if my model is correct, was formerly a subtropical region when you start to get used to the idea that the earth may well rotate every 12000 years 90 degrees and that the equator in its alternate phase to the one we are in now cuts around that area... it explains SO MUCH

Well i am aware of this place

Tassili n'Ajjer - Wikipedia

So for sure northern africa area was much different. Also there were lions here in the balkans etc. Yes it was different. But, i don't know why...