Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Τζουμέρκα

Syrrako is a beautiful and picturesque village, which impresses with its grey stone houses that are perched on a steep slope of Mount Peristeri on an altitude of 1.200 meters. The ‘fairytale’village – located in the heart of the Tzoumerka region - is declared to be a traditional settlement. The village offers stone houses with slate roofs, cobbled alleys, churches, watermills, stone fountains, which are creations of renowed craftsmen. Syrrako was built by Greek Vlach speakers in the 15th century. Around the year of 1480 the village along with other villages in the area, went under the Ottoman domination but managed to secure a privileged tax treatment and some kind of autonomy. Syrrako and neighboutring Kalarrytes were the only villages of Epirus that took part in the Greek Revolution from the first years. During that period, the village was looted and burnt down by the Turks and the inhabitants abandoned it, trying to save their lives. They returned in the year 1825 and rebuilt Syrrako.

Kalarrytes (Kalarrites/Kalarites) is one of the most beautiful villages of Greece. Its houses are built according to the traditional Epirotic architecture. The village boasts beautiful stone bridges, cobbled roads, stone houses with traditional schist roofs, old drinking fountains and watermills. The village - like neighbouring Syrrako - was built in the 14th and 15th centuries by Vlach pastors. The Vlach inhabitants, having secured special privileges and the protection of the Valide sultan. Thanks to their sharp business acumen, helped the village grow through the trade of not only agricultural products, but also the particular goods in which they specialized. The silversmiths of Kalarrytes were known for quality craftsmanship. The family Voulgaris is very well known; one of them moved to Roma in the 1880s and opened a store that would become the famous brand Bulgari. Kalarrytes - surrounded by the imposing mountains of Tzermouka - lies at an elevation of 1200 meters and is sometimes called the ‘Eagles’ Nest of Epirus’.

Tzoumerka - also called Athamanika - is a mountainous region in northwestern Greece, between Ioannina, Arta and Meteora. Its highest point in Tzoumerka – part of the Pindus mountains - is the mountain Katafidi with 2.393 meters.zoumerka. The region is not very well known, yet offering an “earthly paradise”, picturesque villages, extraordinary monasteries, surrounded by gorges, rivers and steep mountains. Tzoumerka has a low population density with just some smaller villages. Forests dominate the low-lying areas of the mountain; grasslands, shrubs and barren rocks the higher elevations. The name Tzoumerka seems to be of Vlach origin, as “tzoum” in the language of Vlachs means the “steep peak”. We took a drive through the most rugged and remote part of Tzermouka: Metsovo - Syrrako. This was one of the most challenging and exciting road trips we have ever driven. Imagine a narrow road - barely wide as a car - full of small and even large boulders, sometimes a partially eroded road surface (PiP4). That road winds steeply through the landscape with many hairpin bends. To make matters worse, we also faced fog for much of the drive. After the hamlet of Chaliki, the road improved to reach an altitude of almost 2,000 metres - sometimes with snow on the roadside. With a countless number of curves, we finally reached Syrrako. With that, this Greek adventure came to an end.