Themes

During the period of the most recent, global-scale, glacial maximum (approximately 22,000-18,000 years ago), the peaks (> 2,500 m) and karst plateaus of the West Pindus mountain range were covered year-round by ice sheets. These conditions favoured erosion of the limestone and flysch substrate and channelled large amounts of water into the Vikos-Voidomatis-Aoös river system. Natural resources were limited at that time, as was human activity.

Only when the climate began to improve (17,500 years ago), causing ice to melt and forests and wild grazing animals to spread, did Palaeolithic archers choose to systematically exploit this new ecological habitat. For the next seven millennia, families or groups on special missions used shallow hollows – mirrors of tectonic faults – in the rocky side walls of the gorge, such as Kleidi, Boila, and Megalakkos, as temporary shelters every spring and summer. There they lit fires for warmth, cooking, companionship, and protection from carnivores, such as bears, wolves, foxes, and lynx, while planning excursions on the steep slopes for the hunting of agile wild goats. The wild goat, in particular, was a coveted prey, especially for its soft hide.

They also fished in the river and set traps for beavers, hares, and other small mammals. Possessing high technological expertise, Palaeolithic craftspeople collected pebbles from the riverbank made of a hard stone, flint, or used animal bones to make weapons and tools, such as arrowheads for bows, knives, scrapers, drills, and needles.

Furthermore, they decorated garments and their bodies with wrought beads from freshwater shells, the teeth of herbivorous mammals, and with natural red ochre.

As the forest grew denser, covering even high-altitude areas 9,000 years ago, the canyon environment became less attractive and productive. Passing hunters now obtained meat, fat, marrow, antlers, and hides from deer herds that crossed the river in the open plain of Konitsa, and they sought, following paths through ravines, new hunting grounds beyond the mountain.

We recommend visitors to the area to follow the riverside thematic route in the Voidomatis valley with information panels about palaeolithic societies and the Pleistocene ecological context.

The rocks that make up the geological structure in Epirus are sedimentary and mainly belong to the geotectonic unit of the Ionian Zone, while to the north and east, sediments of the Pindus Zone and igneous rocks are found.

The geological history of the wider Pindus region begins approximately 200 million years ago at the start of the Jurassic period with the formation of rocks of biochemical, organogenic origin. Then, in the Lower Jurassic, the creation of dolomites and limestones began, which continued, with minor variations in the sedimentation environment (depth, chemical processes, tectonics), until the Upper Eocene 35 million years ago.

At the end of the Eocene, depositional conditions changed abruptly, and a new, different cycle of sediments began, termed clastic. This was a period of flysch formation through alternating layers of clays, siltstones, sandstones, and conglomerates. Following uplift of the area and the creation of mountains, new rocks were formed by the processes of erosion and weathering.

During the geological past, intense geodynamic processes took place and caused deformation of the rocks. Due to the continuous convergence of the lithospheric plates, the African plate beneath the Eurasian plate, sediments and igneous rocks called ophiolites are compressed and pushed towards the surface to subsequently form mountain ranges. During the Pleistocene (2 million – 10,000 years ago), the Tymfi region was intermittently covered by glaciers and alternating glacial and interglacial environments. The rapid uplifts combined with strong vertical erosion shaped two of the most beautiful and deepest gorges globally, traversed by the eponymous rivers Voidomatis (or Vikos) and Aoos.

Following the geological thematic route, which starts from the village of Megalo Papingo and heads north to the summit of Koula (1560m), visitors will have the opportunity to learn many of the secrets hidden within the rocks and the wider geological landscape of the area.

Tymfi is one of the most botanically interesting areas in Greece, with approximately 1,700 plant species. Within the Vikos Gorge, one of the core areas of the National Park, many of the region’s rare plants can be found. On the steep slopes of the gorge grow horse chestnuts, a tree endemic to the Balkan Peninsula countries, which is included in the UN's global list of species requiring protection. In spring, bluebells (Galanthus reginae-olgae subsp. vernalis), cornflowers (Centaurea pawlowskii), and Madonna lilies (Lilium candidum) add colour to the rock; all have limited distribution in Greece and are protected by legislation such as the Bern Convention, the CITES Treaty, and Presidential Decree 67/1981 of the Greek state. Among the rarest plants in the gorge, a special place is held by the Serbian ramonda (Ramonda serbica), a relic from an earlier geological period when the climate in Europe was tropical.

The area's great botanical value is further enhanced by the presence of many medicinal plants, herbs, which are used by the inhabitants of Zagori for therapeutic purposes. Indeed, the area was the origin of the famous Vikoiatroi (Vikos healers), who were practitioners who treated patients using various herbs that came from the great natural pharmacy of Vikos, such as centaury (Centaurium erythraea), germander (Teucrium polium), sage (Salvia officinalis), mountain tea (Sideritis raeseri), hellebore (Helleborus cyclophyllus subsp. odorus), St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), among others.

As part of this region, the stone-built Stairway of Vradeto, which climbs the Mezaria gorge, a branch of the Vikos gorge, and connects the villages Kapesovo and Vradeto, and the path leading from Vradeto to the Beloi viewpoint, are not lacking in significant floral elements. In just 5 kilometres of path, 350 plant species and subspecies have been recorded, while one in three plants encountered while walking there is characterised as a plant of particular interest, as it is either endemic to Greece or the Balkans, or is rare and protected by law, or, finally, is used as a medicinal plant.

The art of construction in 18th-century Konitsa, as well as in the wider region, culminating a long evolutionary period, heralds and, at the same time, becomes one of the most significant components of modern Greek technical science. In the aforementioned era, the so-called art of empirical craftsmen, it is integrated into the broader geographical context of the Southern Mediterranean and possesses strong local characteristics, which differentiate it from its neighbouring counterparts.

In the post-21 period, the Kastorochoria of Konitsa have been carrying out, to their credit, a large part of technical works, not only in their wider region and the Ottoman Empire, but also in Asia, Africa and the transatlantic area. Thus, at the end of the 19th century, the geographical expansion of the activity of the building masons and other craftsmen of Konitsa was recorded, among other things. The above geographical expansion of the professional activity of the craftsmen of Konitsa contributes, through the process of influence and assimilation, to the further development of the technique and, above all, the aesthetic expression of technical work. Thus, in the town of Konitsa, building, often interrupted by historical events, is slowly but surely changing from an art of rural space to an art of urban space. The above change is initially reflected in the new building materials, such as cement mortar, iron girders, etc., and subsequently in the internal and external decorative elements made of coatings, which mimic Greek antiquity.

The social, economic, political, and cultural transformations of the 20th century are decisive for the art of building and its aesthetic expression. New building materials, such as tiles, bricks, cement and clay, corrugated sheet metal, metal frames, and reinforced concrete, displacing stone and slate, largely shape a construction in the city of Konitsa which has all the characteristics of the modern Greek urban space. Nevertheless, at the dawn of the 21st century, Ano Konitsa retains a large number of its local architectural features from the 19th-20th centuries, combining, in this sense, elements of the pre-industrial and contemporary eras. In a word, the places, neighbourhoods, and buildings project diverse and numerous landscapes, the image of which is formed by those who lived and those who live in Konitsa.