In many written accounts, from medieval times until now, a large section of the mountain range that crosses the east region of the
Metsovo
Metsovo ( el, Μέτσοβο; rup, Aminciu) is a town in Epirus, in the mountains of Pindus in northern Greece, between Ioannina to the west and Meteora to the east.
The largest centre of Aromanian (Vlach) life in Greece, Metsovo is a large re ...
area is referred to as Zygos. This name derives from the name Zygos or ʤugu in the local
Vlach
"Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Eastern ...
dialect, which the people of Metsovo used to refer to a certain saddle (notch) of the same mountain ridge that served as a mountain pass. For centuries it was the highest point of the main travel route between
Epirus
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
and
Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
. The timeless importance of this section of the ridge to land transportation in the past, the difficulties faced by travelers in the wintertime as well its pristine beauty made it the object of multiple and extensive references from antiquity until recent years. The wanderer
Leake considers Zygos as the most noteworthy mountain in Greece and the location of the springs of its largest rivers. The painter
Edward Lear
Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...
says that Zygos is the "parent" of the greatest rivers in Greece, it regulates travel between Epirus and Thessaly and it is equally famous for its interconnections, its geographical and political position, and its picturesque scenery.
Sources
*Socrates Scholasticus, Ekklisiastiki Istoria
istoria Ecllesiastica Migne PG, Vol. 67, verses 710, 756.
*D. Sofianos, "Acta Stagorum, Ta yper tis Thessalikis episkopis Stagon palaia vyzantina eggrafa (ton eton 1163, 1336 kai 1393)"
cta Stagorum: the Byzantine documents for the Thessalic diocese of Stagai [from the years 1163, 1336 and 1393) Trikalina 13 (1993), pp. 27–54.
*W. M. Leake, Travels in northern Greece, Α.Μ.Ηakkert-Publisher, (photographic reprint Amsterdam 1967), Vol. 1, pp. 411–416, Vol. 4, p. 261.
*F.C.H.L. Pouqueville, Voyage de la Grèce, Vol 4, shez firmin Didot Père et Fils, Paris 1826, pp. 320–323.
*Ε. Lear, Journals of a landscape painter in Albania, R .Bentley, London, 1843, p. 382.
*Α. Philippson, Thessalien und Epirus, Reisenund foschungen im nördlichen Griechenland, W.H. Kühl, Berlin 1897, pp. 172–190.
*K. Stergiopoulos, Ai diodoi tis Pindou kata tous proistorikous chronous [The Passages of Pindos in the prehistoric age], in the volume dedicated to K. Amanton, Athens 1940, p. 290.
*N. Kosmas, "Oi diodoi tis Pindou" [The passages of Pindos], Epirotiki Estia 4 (1955), pp. 14–20.
*D. Evaggelidis, "Apo tin palia istoria tis Epirou"
rom the old history of Epirus Epirotiki Zoi 3(1946), pp. 15–18.
*R. Curzon, "Taksidi stin Epiro to 1834"
rip to Epirus in 1834 transl. I.E.A., Epirotiki Estia 91 (1959), pp. 876–881.
{{coord missing, Greece
Mountain ranges of Greece
Landforms of Ioannina (regional unit)
Landforms of Epirus (region)