Experience the MAGIC of Vikos - Papigo, Zagorochoria's Most Famous Villages!

Vikos
Vikos is one of the 46 villages of Zagori and one of the most important destinations in the region and Epirus in general. Vikos got its current name from the ravine of the same name, as it is its preeminent observatory and forms a single natural entity with it. According to the most likely version, the word "Vikos" is of Slavic origin and means anti-language. This etymology seems quite convincing, if one considers that in several places of Haradra one can hear his voice many times. Until 1950, the name of the village was "Vetsiko", a word also of Slavic origin meaning pasture.
The village is said to be gradually populated by populations who were mainly looking for safety. From this point of view, it was a particularly privileged location as it is surrounded by cliffs and has only one entrance, which could be guarded relatively easily. The many caves all around and the human bones found in one of them during the installation of the water supply network in 1968 are indications that the area has a very long history of human presence.

Later, Vikos was basically an agricultural village, as evidenced by its central church, which is dedicated to Agios Tryfonas, patron of winegrowers. It was also the location of some of the famous "victoyatrs", practical healers who relied on the rich flora of Haradra. Herbs collected by herbalists were used to treat a range of ailments and were particularly popular in the 19th century. The inhabitants of Vikos also had a relatively self-sufficient agricultural economy. Small fields, gardens, vineyards and livestock provided the basics for the villagers' sustenance.
Vikos is a village with clear geographical limitations regarding its residential expansion. As it is surrounded by cliffs, there has never been a particularly large population and residential area. Nevertheless, in its heyday, around 1900, it had around 500 inhabitants. A school, according to the standards of the privileges that Zagori enjoyed during the Turkish occupation, operated in Viko since 1800, according to the local chronicle "Ta V'nisia Hamperia" by Vassilis Fanitsiou.

Papigo
Papigo is literally built on the slope of Tymfi, and at an altitude of 960 meters. The first reference in which we find it is from 1325 by the Byzantine emperor Andronikos, while it is worth noting that during the period of the Ottoman Empire it enjoyed some basic privileges, the main one being that its inhabitants lived with some relative autonomy. The area flourished and great merchants from Istanbul, Romania and Russia came here and further developed their business.
In the 18th century significant intellectual development was also observed, while in 1780, a Greek school began to operate. Then and around 1820, the area passed under Ali Pasha, who was based in Ioannina, but used to come to Papigo, as he is said to have bathed in Ovires Rogovou (or Kolymbithres), the natural pools located between the two settlements, of the Parrot and the Little Parrot. The area was liberated in 1913, during the Balkan Wars. Since the 1980s, we have seen significant tourism growth, with Papigo being one of the most characteristic villages of Zagori, attracting a significant number of tourists.
0:00 Introduction
0:10 Vikos
2:03 Papigo