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Area history
 The vlah communities
Its rich nature and geographical position made Mt. Gramos the crossroads of civilizations.
Various tribes, languages, religions and arts flourished here and gave life to these mountains
over the centuries. The alpine meadows were the grazing land of nomadic communities,
mainly the Vlahs. During the era of great Empires, all these animal farming communities
on Gramos and the surrounding mountains, that are now part of Greek or Albanian
territory, developed into centers for transit trade and rural craftsmanship but also art and
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The tribes of the area
 Going southeast to the mountain valley of Sarantaporos we come upon the famous
'mastorohoria' (villages of craftsmen). For centuries their residents succeeded in mastering
the only natural material that was plentiful in their land - rock and became the best master
craftsmen in the Balkans by building bridges, churches and houses and mainly the myth thatit was they 'who built the world'.
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The tragic 20th century
The great historic events of the first half of the 20th century destroyed in just a few decades
this century-old peaceful cohabitation since Mt. Gramos was found in the combat zone of
nearly all wars. After the Balkan battles and the First World War, the final blow came in
the '40s. Gramos was at the center of the Greco-italian war during fall of 1940 and it is
said that the first Italian mortars fell on the Gramos border outposts on October 28th. |
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 During the following years, the National Resistance movement against the Nazis prevailed in
the area and the Nazi army took revenge on its villages. Nestorio was burned down twice in
1943. The Greek civil war that followed had serious ramifications on the area. The last page
of the Civil war was written here on Mt. Gramos on August 30th, 1949. After the civil war,
emmigration abroad and movement of population towards the cities led to the
abandonment of most mountain villages. The area lost 2/3 of its population between the
'40s and '60s.
Today, great efforts are made for the upgrading ('PINDOS' program) and resettlement of
abandoned villages. With a series of infrastructure and development projects, a future plan
will soon bring back to Mt. Gramos its old glory always with respect towards the
environment. |
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 Ελληνική έκδοση |
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