Vradeto ( el, Βραδέτο) is a village in the Greek

Zagori Zagori ( el, Ζαγόρι; rup, Zagori), is a region and a municipality in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Asprangeloi. It has an area of some and contains 46 villages known as ...

region ( Epirus region). It lies at a height of 1340m on Mt Tymphe in the

Pindus The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metres ...

mountain range. It is the highest of the 44 villages of Zagori. Vikos Gorge from Beloe

It is the middle of the

Vikos–Aoös National Park The Vikos–Aoös National Park ( el, Εθνικός Δρυμός Βίκου–Αώου ''Ethnikós Drymós Víkou–Aóou'') is a national park in the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece. The park, founded in 1973, is one of ten national ...

and is about 50 km away from Ioannina. It is located only a few kilometers from the

Vikos Gorge The Vikos Gorge or Vikos Canyon ( gr, Φαράγγι του Βίκου) is a gorge in the Pindus Mountains of north-western Greece. It lies on the southern slopes of Mount Tymphe with a length of about 32 km, depth ranging from 120 to 1350 ...

and near one of the best vantage points, Beloe (Beloi) (perhaps a Slavic word meaning "good view" or "balcony"). It is located also close to an alpine lake called Drakolimni (''Dragon’s Lake''), one of several such lakes. The lakes are named after the amphibian newts ('' Ichthyosaura alpestris'') that live in them, around which there are myths of dragons. The myths are echoes of ancient myths about the hero

, son of

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. Th ...

, who either befriended or according to another myth killed a dragon.

Nearest places

Tsepelovo Tsepelovo ( el, Τσεπέλοβο) is a village in the Zagori region (Epirus region). It stands at a height of 1,200 meters in a panoramic location on the mountain range of Tymfi. It is the biggest of the 45 villages of Zagori and it was the seat ...

, east (distance: 10 km) * Kapesovo, south (distance: 5 km)

Population

History

Until the close of the 20th century there was only one way to reach the village, via a kalderimi (paved mule road) called the ''Skala of Vradeto'' ( el, Σκάλα Βραδέτου) a stairway of about 1000 steps built on the side of a canyon and almost impossible to seem from a distance. It starts at the end of a long path from the village of Kapesovo. Vradeto’s difficulty of access probably explains its location in the inhospitable highlands near the top of Mt Tymphe. A road was opened in the 1970s. It is believed to have been settled initially by families from

Skamneli Skamneli ( el, Σκαμνέλι) is a village in the Zagori region ( Epirus region), 54 km north of Ioannina. It is built in the fringes of mountain Tymfi (Mt Tymphe), at a height of 1160 m. Name The name "Skamneli" is of uncertain origi ...

at around 1616, according to Ioannis Lamprides.Christogoulas Stefanos ''Βραδέτο – το Μπαλκόνι του Ζαγορίου'' (''Vradeto: The Balcony of Zagoria'') Εκδόσεις Εφύρα, 2006

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Albanians, locally called "Arvanites", have the village settled after the 15th century and were later assimilated into the local population.

Sarakatsani The Sarakatsani ( el, Σαρακατσάνοι, also written Karakachani, bg, каракачани) are an ethnic Greek population subgroup who were traditionally transhumant shepherds, native to Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbourin ...

have settled at the beginning of the 20th century. The traditional stone architecture is dominant in every building, in the village paths, dwellings and churches, many now ruined or in a state of significant disrepair. The main church, dedicated to the Birth of Mary ( el, Ναός Γεννήσεως της Θεοτόκου) was built in 1799 with a donation from Nikolaos Tsigaras. Other churches are those of Agios Athanasios at the top of the Skala, Agios Nikolaos, Prophetes Elias and Agios Georgios with a cemetery.

Folklore

The Feast of the Birth of Mary is celebrated with a three-day festival starting on 8 September.

Bibliography

References

External links

Cultural Club of Vradeto
{{Zagori div Populated places in Ioannina (regional unit) Villages in Greece