Settlement
The settlement pattern in Grammos is concentrated primarily in the valleys of the major rivers—the Aliakmon and the Sarantaporos—and their tributaries.
With the exception of the Albanian side, the villages of the Greek Grammos range belong administratively to the regions of Epirus and Western Macedonia. The villages of Epirus are spread across the southern and western slopes and valleys of the mountain range, while the eastern side is home to the villages of Nestorio.
The Villages of Nestorio
Nestorio is the seat of a municipality that includes the municipal districts of Akriton, Arrenon, Grammos, and Nestorio, with a total population of approximately 2,500 residents, and is home to several public services.
Nestorio
Nestorio is the largest settlement in the Grammos region and the eastern gateway to the mountain. The settlement is built on a gently sloping strip of land at an elevation of 890 meters, under the watchful eye of the great Castro Rock and the protection of the foothills of Alevitsa. The outermost houses extend almost to the Aliakmon River, which marks the southern boundary of Nestorio.
The village is divided into Upper and Lower Nestorio. Together, the two neighborhoods had a population of 964 according to the 2011 census, although in reality the active, permanent population is significantly smaller. The residents are mainly engaged in agricultural occupations.
The site has been inhabited since ancient times, as evidenced by artifacts found around the perimeter and at the summit of the castle. From a column bearing an inscription from the Roman period, we can infer that the area was called Vattyn. The settlement’s current name is more recent and is believed to reflect an older place name with the same sound.
The main attractions of Nestorio are the churches of the Archangels (a three-aisled basilica dating from 1858) and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (a large basilica dating from 1816), the 19th-century stone watermill, and the Monastery of Panagia Tsouka.
In recent decades, Nestorio has become known for the River Party, a music festival held in July at a specially designed venue on the Aliakmon River.
A stroll through the village—and especially through Kato Nestorio—brings us face-to-face with the history of traditional building techniques. Amid the newer buildings, we’ll find several stone houses—often two-story—with meticulously crafted masonry and techniques reminiscent of the traditions of the master builders of Voio.
Smaller or auxiliary structures consist of mixed load-bearing walls with stone at the base, extending up to the height of the floor, and then built with adobe bricks. Although sandstone is abundant in the area, building walls requires skilled craftsmen and involves transportation and processing costs. In contrast, mud bricks can be produced by the family itself in the river’s clay deposits, which are very close by. A mixture of sand and clay in a 3:1 ratio is used to make the adobe bricks, along with straw or goat hair to reinforce the structure’s stability (a type of binding agent). A mud-brick wall has many advantages, such as good insulation and breathability, which are important in a mountainous climate. Its main disadvantage is the structural stability of the wall when it gets wet, and thus its use is avoided in buildings intended for primary habitation.
Inside the ruined buildings, we can make out sections of the interior partitions, which in most cases are constructed using tsatmas (or bagdati)—that is, a system of frames and connectors made of thin wood. Tsatma was not always used—in farmhouses and outbuildings, these lightweight walls were left unplastered. However, even in cases where the tsatmas was plastered, today we find the plaster in a state of decay, allowing us to easily discern its structure: a series of thin planks, with enough space in between to be filled with humble materials (small stones, twigs, reeds), forming a wall that was lightweight, inexpensive, and satisfactory in terms of strength and insulation.
The villages of the Sarantaporos valleys
Old and New Kotili
The old settlement of Kotili developed on the flat lands of a forested valley in the Grammos range, to the south of a large horseshoe-shaped basin of steep slopes and cliffs that surrounded and protected it. As part of the cluster of agricultural and livestock farming communities in the wider region, Kotili took shape as a settlement during the final period of Ottoman rule under the name Koteltsi.
The houses were loosely arranged on either side of the central ravine, where a small single-arch bridge was built in the 19th century. The focal point of the settlement was a small rocky outcrop where the village’s first church was built and where the large parish church of Saint George was later erected; today, it is the only intact building in the settlement.
Saint George, year of founding
Although somewhat off-center relative to the natural axes of the southern Grammos range, old Kotili attracted travelers along the less mountainous route between the Sarantaporos Valley and the Aliakmon River system—that is, toward Nestorio—and for some time served as a roadside inn centered around a small han (inn).
During the Civil War, Kotili found itself at the heart of the turmoil and served as one of the mainstays of the rebel supply network. As a result, it was evacuated—its residents were relocated to Kastoria—and completely destroyed. In the 1950s, the people of Kotili responded to a proposal to establish a settlement in the old agricultural basin of Profitis Ilias and, with the help of government subsidies, built New Kotili.
Nea Kotili was founded in the early 1950s to accommodate the residents of old Kotili, who had moved to Kastoria at the end of World War II. The settlement occupies the flat portion of a gentle basin, where the settlement of Gourousia once stood, and features the rational street layout typical of planned communities. In 2011, 150 residents were recorded, of whom it is estimated that only 40 live permanently in the village.
The Mountain Villages
Gramosta
Gramosta is the quintessential mountain village of Grammos. It is located at an elevation of 1,380 meters, on the northern bank of the upper reaches of the Aliakmon River, in a gentle landscape of sun-drenched meadows.
Gramosta has always been a hub for Vlach and Sarakatsani herders, who would arrive here in early summer from the distant winter pastures of Thessaly, Macedonia, and Epirus. As a result, Gramosta has always been seasonally inhabited. After all, in winter the valley’s entrances are blocked by snow, and it would be very difficult to sustain any kind of activity there.
The settlement has an old center and a newer extension. In the old part, the large parish church dominates the landscape with its imposing size, accompanied by a sort of auxiliary church. The newer section, which was laid out and made available for construction under favorable terms with the aim of boosting the population, consists mainly of large residences and the old school, which now serves as an Army outpost.
The villages along the middle reaches of the Upper Aliakmon River
The middle course of the Upper Aliakmon River makes a wide bend around a large cluster of low peaks collectively known as Psoriarika. Along the river’s axis—and exclusively along this line—we find a series of settlements, now deserted or sparsely populated, that retain their status as the basin’s most important historic settlements.
All the settlements in the area are currently very sparsely built up, a fact that is difficult to explain given the disintegration of the settlement fabric.
The road serving the settlements of the Upper Aliakmon is paved almost all the way to Giannochori and continues as a wide, safe dirt road to Trilofo. It then turns into a narrow dirt road, which is blocked by snow in the winter and is barely passable in the summer. As a result, access to Fousia, the most isolated of the area’s settlements, is rather precarious and uncertain.
Below, we will look at some information about the settlements in this area: Livadotopi, Giannochori, Monopilo, Trilofo, and Fousia. Other settlements, such as Livadia Touchoulis, have left no visible traces.
Livadotopi
Livadotopi (formerly known as Omotskon) is the first of the villages along the great bend of the Aliakmon River and is located very close to the point where the road branches off toward Pefko and Gramosta. Livadotopi had 200 residents before World War II, but has been deserted ever since, with only minimal and seasonal human presence. All the houses are relatively new, as the village was completely abandoned in the 1950s. The only old building is the beautiful church of Saint Nicholas, built in 1657—the oldest surviving parish church in the area.
Yiannochori
Yiannochori was the largest permanently inhabited village in the Upper Aliakmon region. Until 1918, it was known as Yiannovaini and served as the seat of the community of the same name, giving all the upstream villages the designation “Yiannochoria” . Built at a safe distance from the region’s geographical gateway, it quickly became its main village, facilitating transportation and trade in the inland valleys.
It is said that Yiannochori had a population of 1,500 before the war. In 1945, 460 people were recorded, while today it has no permanent residents. Most of the few remaining houses are newer, and the most significant building is the large parish church of Panagia. A distinctive feature of this stone-built church is the presence of two women’s galleries, evidence of the village’s once-thriving population.
In Giannochori, there is a guesthouse for visitors that is open by appointment.
Trilofo (Slimnica)
Trilofo (formerly Slimnitsa) was one of the liveliest settlements in the middle basin of the Upper Aliakmon River. The village was built near the hilltop of Agios Christoforos (a name derived from an old chapel). Just before World War II, Slimnitsa had two neighborhoods and 345 residents, only to be permanently abandoned during the Greek Civil War. Today it has very few residents and is sparsely built-up. The village’s attractions include the stone fountain, the ruins of the old Church of the Virgin Mary, built in 1843, the large church of Saint Athanasius from 1872, the two war memorials, and the stone-built elementary school, which houses the local guard post.
North of the village, one can make out the ruins of the once-important Monastery of St. John the Baptist.
Glykoneri
Glykoneri (formerly Dranovo) is nestled in a sloping meadow, from which it overlooks, from a safe distance, the road junction at the gateway to the inner valleys of the Aliakmon River. The village had about 200 residents before the war. Today, only three buildings remain: a guesthouse, rebuilt on the foundations of the old school, and two houses. There is also a war memorial.
Saint Zacharias
The rural settlement of Agios Zacharias was located across from Lianotopi and along the road leading to the monastery of Agios Zacharias. The large meadow provided ample agricultural resources for the small community, while the forest and the vast pastures added to the region’s wealth. Today, nothing remains of the settlement’s infrastructure.
Lianotopi
Lianotopi (or Linotopi) was a small settlement, built in the middle of the meadows along a bend in the Aliakmon River and very close to the base of the final ascent to Vlachostrata. Undoubtedly, the settlement and the spring provided a place of rest for caravans and muleteers traveling to and from Gramosta, and thus Lianotopi offered opportunities for activities beyond agriculture. Today, only a few ruins and a fountain remain at the site.
Veternik
Veternik was a satellite settlement of Gramosta and consisted of a few huts, clustered around the Veternik spring and the meadow of the same name. The meadow was located along the ring road connecting Gramosta with Fousia and the villages of Aliakmon. Today, only a few wild fruit trees, a watering trough, and a small open cistern remain.
Fousia
Another outlying settlement of Gramosta was Fousia, an isolated and relatively large seasonal settlement of herders. During the turbulent period from the mid-19th to the early 20th century, Fousia’s border location subjected it to many decades of unrest, and eventually the area was abandoned, as was the neighboring village of Agios Zacharias. Today, only a small chapel dedicated to Saint Athanasios stands in the meadow of Fousia.
The Villages of Epirus
Of all the villages in Epirus, the one closest to the Gramosta basin is Aetomilitsa. A large group of villages—Pyrsogianni, Vourbiani, Asimochori, Plikati, and Chionades—belong to the Mastorochoria group, while Amarantos and Kefalochori are more closely associated with Konitsa.
Aetomilitsa
Aetomilitsa (formerly Denisko) is an important Vlach-speaking village, built on the southern slopes of the cirque formed by the high peaks of Grammos, at an elevation of 1,430 meters. It is the northernmost village in the prefecture of Ioannina, near the Greek-Albanian border. The name Denisko is of Slavic origin and means “sunrise,” referring to the village’s orientation. The current name was adopted in 1928.
Aetomilitsa is a village of Vlach herders and has always been inhabited only during the summer, as the herds would descend in winter to the winter pastures in eastern Thessaly and Macedonia. The settlement experienced a period of prosperity and developed a rich architectural heritage from the mid-18th to the late 19th century, serving as the hub of a large sphere of influence that stretched from the mountain villages of Konitsa to the villages of eastern Grammos. At the height of its prosperity, it had as many as 40,000 goats and sheep and used its caravans to transport goods across a vast region stretching from eastern Macedonia to the coast of Northern Epirus.
The village declined due to the geopolitical changes of the 20th century and was nearly destroyed during World War II and, in particular, the Greek Civil War. The countless traces in the landscape and in people’s memories—bunkers, trenches, local stories—bear witness to the profound impact the 1950s had on the region.
After a long period of neglect, Aetomilitsa has recently been revitalized through the renewal of its infrastructure and services. Today, the village is home to taverns, a café, and a guesthouse.