, they are many worlds from the country's traditional hot spots of luminous islands and Homeric ruins. Of the 46 villages, 35 are protected by strict planning laws, and 2,000 square kms of designated national parkland – whose core is the dramatic limestone features of the Unesco-listed Vikos-Aoos Geopark – ensures the preservation of the natural and cultural environment. It is one of the most authentic areas of Greece, and hopefully will remain so after this week becoming the country's newest World Heritage Site . This week's new World Heritage Sites This craggy land of precipitous mountains, gorges, valleys and rivers, as I would discover, makes the region a year-round haven for hikers and thrill-seekers – which, by definition, means foreigners. 'Greeks with houses here tend to visit in the summer months, while other domestic tourists come in winter to gaze out){kind=link}
This is one of the most authentic areas of Greece, and hopefully will remain so after becoming the country’s newest World Heritage Site
I woke on the first morning to the smell of woodsmoke from my fireplace, and to the view of brittle sunlight hitting the rocky mass of the Astraka Towers. Outside, the air was crisp. Birds twittered, darting among the pines, and lights from the tiny villages dotting Mount Tymphi twinkled across the valley.
Wrapped in a blanket, I breakfasted on the terrace – yogurt and thyme honey, tea of mountain herbs, fresh local cheeses and home-made pastries – under the hopeful eye of the local cats. By 7am, with Dimitri as my guide, we were driving along narrow, twisting mountain roads – our progress periodically halted by bleating sheep and mooing cows, bells merrily clanging, oblivious to the highway code.
The Zagorohoria – a composite word from the Slavic “beyond the mountains” and the Greek for “villages” – is one of those idyllic throwbacks to the 1800s: 46 villages with a permanent population of some 2,000 souls, whose way of life remains largely untouched by time.
Located in Epirus, in north-west Greece, and connected by a network of rugged shepherds’ trails and characteristic stone arched bridges (see below), they are many worlds from the country’s traditional hot spots of luminous islands and Homeric ruins. Of the 46 villages, 35 are protected by strict planning laws, and 2,000 square kms of designated national parkland – whose core is the dramatic limestone features of the Unesco-listed Vikos-Aoos Geopark – ensures the preservation of the natural and cultural environment. It is one of the most authentic areas of Greece, and hopefully will remain so after this week becoming the country’s newest World Heritage Site.