The Vikos Aoos National Park lies in the north of the greek province Epirus. It is located in an area known as Zagori is known.
background
The river flows through the park Aoos, it rises near the village Vovousa on the slopes of the Tymfi massif on the border with the West Macedonia region. It flows into Konitsa the Voidomatis, which in the limestone of the Pindus Mountains the spectacular Vikos gorge has dug. The Aoos then flows further north, crosses the border to Albania and finally flows into the Adriatic at Vloe.
history
The park was founded in 1973 and covers a total area of 126 km², its core zone has 34 km².
landscape
The Tymfi massif rises between the Vikos Gorge and the Aoos Gorge, and accordingly the height varies from around 500 m to the approximately 2,400 m high mountain peaks.
Flora and fauna
The flora varies with altitude. In the lower elevations you will find the hard foliage trees and oaks that are otherwise common in Greece, further up are beech forests, and in the higher elevations coniferous trees dominate, mixed with alpine-looking meadows.
A number of endangered animal species were able to survive in the rather sparsely populated region. There are rare species of birds and reptiles. In terms of mammals, there are chamois and wildcats as well as lynxes and wolves, and even a few brown bears have their habitat here. In general, there are still a small number of wild bears in the Pindus Mountains, their total number is estimated at 150. Their greatest threat is road traffic.
climate
The rainfall varies depending on the season, it is quite high in the winter months, in the summer it is dry for a long time, the amount of rain is about 1000 mm per year. With temperatures averaging around 4 ° C, the winter months are cold, the summer months are moderate with 20 - 22 ° C.
getting there
The national park can be reached from Ioannina on the N20 to Konitsa or via side streets to Kentriko Zagori or. Monodendri.
mobility
The mountainous region has well-developed hiking trails for the most important sights. Having your own vehicle makes sightseeing much easier.
Tourist Attractions
Vikos Gorge
It's in the Guinness Book of Records. Not because it is the deepest or longest canyon, but because the ratio between the greatest depth (900 m) and the smallest width (1100 m measured at the upper edges) is greatest. Well, it is definitely spectacular. The almost vertical edges in the partly crumbly lime are quite impressive. The gorge extends from Monodendri in the south to Vikos and Papingo in the north.
From Monodendri, well-developed hiking trails lead along the edge of the gorge, a path leads to an almost abandoned monastery Agia Paraskevi, on the way and in the monastery you have fantastic viewpoints. If that's not enough, you can walk a few meters to the left of the monastery, but then the path suddenly becomes so narrow that it is better to leave it to the mountain goats.
Another path leads from Monodendri down into the valley and along the gorge to Vikos. The gorge is about 12 km long. For the way to Papigo there is a guideline time of 6 hours for the one way on the signpost. That says a lot about the nature of the path at the bottom of the gorge and that it is better not to tackle the hike alone.
Aoos Gorge
In the area of the nature park, the Aoos flows from east to west, behind Konitsa the valley widens and then flows into it Voidomatis from the Vikos Gorge.
places
- Monodendri on the west side of the Vikos Gorge has good transport connections and there are a relatively large number of modern buildings. There are also ancient stone buildings whose roofs are covered with natural stone slabs. The paths are also paved, the stones laid across the direction of travel should provide safety for carrying animals, and that works on the smooth stones even for pedestrians.
- Konitsa at the confluence of the Aoos and Voidomatis. The town is only about 5 km from the Albanian border. An arched bridge from the Ottoman period is worth seeing.
The region is visited by around 100,000 holidaymakers annually, mostly from Greece. There are a number of hotels and pensions in the towns around the park.
bridges
In order to connect the 45 villages of the Zagoria in their impassable movement, there are at least as many arched bridges from Ottoman times. As an example, take this Noutsos Bridge or Kokkoris Bridge called that in the Vikos Gorge the river between the villages Koukouli and Diloto crossed. It was founded in 1750 by Alexis Noutsos Built from private funds, his descendants felt obliged to maintain the building.
activities
- hike
- Rafting, canoeing
shop
In all villages there are small supermarkets for the essentials, for everything else it is best to go to Ioannina.
accommodation
There is a very large number of accommodations of all categories. It is best to orientate yourself to a central location, from where you can easily get to the attractions.
kitchen
There is no shortage of restaurants in this tourist area.
security
As in all of Greece, there is hardly any crime here either.
trips
- Zagori: Villages in the national park are well worth seeing
- Ioannina: one of the most beautiful cities in Greece a few km south of the park
- Pindos National Park: the park north of Metsovo impresses with its almost deserted mountain landscapes and river valleys. It is a little known but worthwhile hiking area.
- Tzoumerka National Park: old villages with stone-roofed houses, wild mountain landscapes and old stone bridges
literature
Web links
- Konitsa Website of the place, also in English
- Environmental organization Callisto
