During World War I, in September 1916, the Battle of Kajmakcalan between Serbian and Bulgarian troops took place at Kajmakčalan and around the adjacent peaks, resulting in a Serbian victory. There is a small church and crypt for the Serbian soldiers who died in the battle. Near the top of the Kajmakchalan Mountain, on the Greek side, there is a small church named Profitis Ilias.
It is said that Mariovo was named after the beautiful and brave girl Marija. The legend says that some turkish Pasha who has conquered the villages of Mariovo, has fallen in love with this girl and, enchanted by her beauty, was prepared to do everything to gain her love. But Marija's father was not approving on it, because his daughter was a Christian, and the Turk was a Muslim. The Pasha would not give up. Marija answered his persistence with one condition: she would become his wife, but the entire region, from the Poloski monastery, Selecka mountain, to the village by the name of Brod, then the Bitola region, the Nidze mountain and to the reach of Kozjak, to remain Christian and that not a single Turk should be inhabited there. The Pasha agreed to this condition, signed papers on that decision and took Marija with him. He took her on the rood leading to the village of Dunje, Marija suddenly took the knife from her folds, and forcefully killed herself. Taking away her life, she did not surrender to the pasha, who later, although he wanted to, could not annul the contract he previously signed. By the power of this document, the guarantee that the entire region should remain Christian was respected. In the honor of the girl and her courageous act, and the love for her fellow people, the region was named Mariovo.