Zagoria

Happy new year to all of you!!!! I wish to you the best!!! Personally I will not wish much for the new year, mainly to be healthy and to have the people we love with us, because in this life for better or for worse it is difficult to be on our own. If you read this article it means that the world is nit ended which is very pleasant. We have experienced this year also the magic of Christmas and we will continue to enjoy it for many years to come! I do not know about you, but for me this a wonderfull time of the year, mostly because no matter how difficult this times are the whole feeling of the holidays makes us more optimistic and with a giving mood to all around us.

By Aliki Koutoura
Traslation: Artemis Touli
Read this article in greek

 

For a long time I wanted to take you where we go this month. I think that I did well to wait till now because it fits perfectly with the cheerful season feeling! We reach the heart of north Pindos, Zagoria will provide to the visitor a unique site of imposing mountains, green valleys and plateaus, crystal lakes and rivers. Each of the 46 villages is special with its way and for sure it is difficult to visit them all at once. Here we will describe as many villages as we can, hopefully that you will visit many more!

Aristi's village is a place that attracts a lot of tourists, not only for the beauty of the landscape that all Zagoria offer but also for his geographical position which makes easy the access to the villages around and ofcourse to the sight scenes of the area: firstly the river Voidomatis who gives maybe the best scene for hiking, with its natural paths that are framed with oak trees but also for rafting over his clean waters while the temperature of 4 Celsius degrees all year around makes it a challenge for visitors to take a dive to the crystal clean waters of the river.

You should take a ride at the rive Voidomatis, you will have the chance to enjoy the endless beauties of the National Park Vikos – Aoou, but also to see the famous bridge of Voidomatis which was build at 1853, after a lot of effort. Next to the bridge there is a stone path that if it is followed you will reach the canyon of Vikos. A place full of flora and fauna, it is considered one of the most beautiful canyons of whole Europe and not unfairly. It is not random that since 1973 it is the core of the National Park of Vikos – Aoou. You can also enjoy the beautiful view of the ravine from Aristi, Monodendri (also a beautiful village, do not forget to try their traditional kasispie!), Vradeto and Vikos in their beautiful balconies while the most courageous you can even try to cross the whole canyon in a total route of six hours! Can you take it? Also near the Voidomatis' bridge we must say that Konitsa is builded where to her valley the rivers Sarantaporo,Voidomatis and Aoos are united. It is also impressive the canyon of Aoos, which frames the single-arch stone-builded bridge of Konitsa. Under the the bridge's arch there is a bell which used to give a sign of danger in the old days to the people passing by when the wind was strong. If you follow the path that goes under the bridge you will reach the Stomio's Abbey.

As you can see Aristi is the ideal beginning to do the area's sight-scene. In a small distance there is also the enchanting Dragon's lake, the path starts form the small Papigo, in case you want to do hacking. In the Dragon's lake waters lives Triton, one of the most rare protected species, that looks like a small dragon, so if you have time it worths a small trip up there!

And since I said Papigo, you cannot visit Zagoria and no got there even for a few minutes. Maybe the most famous village of whole Zagoria, is divided in Small and Big Papigo (you can also do riding!!) and it is famous for its architecture that has as main theme the stone. The beautiful stone-builded buildings of both communities are a joy to see and view that you must take a look.

No matter how many pages I fill for Zagoria are never enough. So I urge you to visit it if you have not already to discover for yourself one more place in Greece which is unique!