Agia Paraskevi
A small monastery on the precipice looking into the Vikos floor.
**The best-known Zagori village and the southern gateway to the Vikos gorge** โ built entirely of stone on the gorge rim, about 40 km from Ioannina. The forty-six **Zagori** villages have a character unlike anywhere else in Greece: **grey stone houses roofed in stone slabs** rather than tile, paved lanes and dry-stone walls โ all architecturally protected, so nothing may be built in any other manner. Monodendri itself has a **central square** with an enormous plane tree and cafรฉs, and an old **stone path** descending into the gorge. Its finest thing is the **monastery of Agia Paraskevi**: a small 15th-century building **hung directly on the edge of the abyss**, ten minutes' walk from the village โ and the view from it down into Vikos is among the most powerful in Greece. โ From here the **full gorge route** begins, and from here you drive up to the **Oxya viewpoint**.
A small monastery on the precipice looking into the Vikos floor.
A huge plane tree and stone cafรฉs at the village's heart.
Grey houses roofed in stone slabs rather than tile.
Monodendri, Zagori, 44007 Ioannina, Greece
**A region of forty-six stone villages in a single legally protected style โ and the reason for its architectural wealth is a striking piece of history.** โ **Its special status**: under Ottoman rule the Zagori villages obtained **wide administrative privileges** โ local self-government and exemptions, in exchange for defined obligations. The area held no garrisons or settlers, so it **ran itself**. โ **Where the money came from**: Zagori men emigrated to work and trade in the cities of the Balkans and eastern Europe โ **and sent their wealth home**. It funded schools, churches, **stone bridges** and large houses. Which is why small remote villages have **architecture far grander than their size suggests**. โ **And the uniformity today is legal**: the region is **architecturally protected**, so building is permitted only in local stone with stone roofs โ **which is why you see no concrete and no red tile**, something very rare in Greece.
**The part to the monastery, yes with care; the ledge beyond it, no.** โ **To the monastery**: a paved stone path from the village, **ten minutes** on foot, running along the gorge edge. **Safe for anyone paying attention**, โ but **narrow and unrailed in places** with the drop immediately beside you โ **hold a child's hand**, and do not take it in **strong wind or rain** or straight after (the stone turns slippery). โ **โ As for the ledge behind the monastery**: a path **cut into the rock face** continues to caves where villagers once hid โ and that section is **very narrow, completely exposed and without any protection**, and demands a head for heights. **Do not take it** with children, if you fear heights, or in unsettled weather. โ **And you lose nothing by skipping it**: **the view from the monastery itself is the view**, and the ledge is an addition for those wanting adventure rather than the sight.
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