Epirus: Metsovo, Ioannina & Zagorohoria.

From Meteora to Ioannina one travels via a spectacular mountain pass, a drive up into the Pindus Mountains to the picturesque village of Metsovo, famous for its roast meat, home made pies, and smoked cheese. A village of 5,000 Vlachs, Metsovo (60 km east of Ioannina) rests upon the ruins of ancient Tymphi. It extends along one of the highest peaks of the Pindus, exciting the visitor with its "Alpine" architecture and its striking scenery. The village is built on the steep side of one mountain and looks across a valley to some of the highest peaks of the Pindus Mountains capped with snow even through the summer. The fields are riots of wild flowers and in the valleys flocks of sheep and goats are tiny moving white dots. The inhabitants' income comes from lumber, grazing, cheese making, weaving, a wonderful robust red wine, and the bequest of the Tositsa family. Houses are made from wood and stone, with slate roofs and carved wooden ceilings. Try and visit the Tositsa Museum, the house in which the immensely wealthy family of the Barons Tositsa lived for over three centuries. After the death of the last Tositsa in 1950, the house was made into a museum, a memorial to the way the rich used to live, and a superb collection of the folk arts of the region. Metsovo and the other mountain villages of this area are completely unlike the rest of Greece. Even the language is different, since most of the people, although they speak Greek, are Vlachs and speak Vlachika as their native tongue. The older people still wear the traditional mountain clothing: men in black, sometimes with skirts and white leggings, tasseled clogs and shepherd’s crooks, while women are in long skirts and embroidered velveteen bodices. They are taciturn and proud, but very friendly to their visitors. The church of Agia Paraskevi has an interesting carved icon screen and its wall mosaics are copies of the ones at Ravenna. The Monastery of Agios Nikolaos with its 17th century frescoes is also worth a visit.
The nearby ski center and the number of mountains in the vicinity make Metsovo a paradise for skiers and hikers.
Ioannina is the capital of the region Epirus. According to history, Ioannina was founded in 527 by the emperor Justinian. Located on a plateau on the western side of Lake Ioannina, is facing the grey limestone mass of Mount Mitsikeli. It was first mentioned in ecclesiastical registers of the 9th and 10th centuries as an important Byzantine city but remained a sleepy medieval town when Greeks fleeing Constantinople after its capture by the Crusaders in 1204 arrived here to make it the capital of the Despotate of Epirus. The first Despot, Michael I, started building the walls that over the next centuries would be enlarged and strengthened by various conquerors - Greeks, Italians, Serbs, and Turks - to become the magnificent walled old town that still exists. Ioannina offers plenty of opportunities to explore. Apart from its museums - with exhibits from all over Epirus - and the art gallery, the town has also to offer its natural beautiful surroundings, the old part of the city with the city walls, the narrow alleys and the splendid views.
No visit to Ioannina will be complete without a trip to the islet of Ioannina at the Pamvotis lake. A traditional village of superb beauty, built in the 17th century and consisting of 150 families is on the islet. In the tavernas of the village one can taste a selection of fresh lake fish. The Philanthropinon Monastery and the Revolutionary Museum are also worthwhile visiting. Small boats connect the islet with Ioannina very frequently.
Museums: Visit the Archaeological Museum is in the centre of the Ioannina, by the park Litharitsa. Collections of archaeological finds from all over Epirus are exhibited. The Municipal Museum is housed in the former Aslan Tzami mosque, with exhibits of historical and folkloric character. The Folk Art Museum of the Society of Epirotic Studies has to show many examples of local crafts. The Byzantine Museum exhibits important collections from the Byzantine and the post-Byzantine period. The Vrellis Museum of Greek History is 13 km away from Ioannina, at Mouzaki, and covers, with the waxen effigies of personalities and scenes, the period preceding the Greek Revolution (1611-1821). The new Pavlos Vrellis Wax Museum, is located in the village of Bizani, 11Km south of the city of Ioannina. The museum is built in traditional 18th century "Epirus-style" architecture and towers over a flat area, which collects water in the fall and winter months. On display in the museum are wax exhibits covering themes from various periods of Greek history (Pre-Revolution period, 1821 Revolution leading to Independence, 1940-41) and other themes including "Byzantium", "Ancient Greece" and "Asia Minor". In total, the museum houses 36 separate collections with 150 life-size wax sculptures.
Villages around Ioannina. The traditional settlements, 16 km north of the city of Ioannina, in breathtaking surroundings and a stunning mountainous area, very rich in animal and plant life, and bounded by Mountains Mitsikeli, Gamila and the Aoos River are known as "Zagorohoria" (or "Zagori Villages"). The 46 picturesque Zagoria Villages, scattered about the fir- and pine- covered slopes, are built in traditional Epirot architectural style. The area is full of churches, small folklore museums, remarkable bridges and archaeological sites (such as 9th c B.C settlement of Vitsa).There are over 60 stone bridges in the area, one of which is the Plakidas three-arched stone bridge, the largest in Zagoria. The distinctive architecture, with the houses built exclusively of local gray stone, the mansions, the churches and the area with the dark pine trees, the full of flowers meadows and the lush vegetation provide a unique experience of natural beauty.
Part of the Vikos-Aoos National Park, the Vicos Gorge-Canyon is one of the most breathtaking natural sites in all of Greece and one of the largest and finest gorges in all of Europe. As stated in the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records Vicos Gorge is the deepest and longest canyon in Europe and offers outstanding scenery. The gorge is 12 km long, averages 700 m in depth and 200 m in width. It is traversed by Voidomatis River, a tributary of Aoos River, one of the largest in the region of Epirus. At the feet of the left wall of the canyon, aprox. 1350 m tall, are the sources of the Voidomatis River, just 2.5 Km away from the village of Aristi, has the fame of being the cleanest river in Europe with water which fit to drink. Moreover in the Vikos-Aoos National Park, which includes the Vikos Gorge, the canyon formed by the River Aoos, one can observe rare species of flora and fauna. Over 1750 species of wild plants and flowers are recorded in the region, many of them being indigenous and unique.