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Crossing the Vikos Gorge

For many years a veil of mystery, like a morning mist, covered the Vikos Gorge. All my knowledge came from some generalized publications or from vague reports of local shepherds and hunters who claimed – no more or less – that it took no more than two hours to cross the gorge.
– By running?I had asked in amazement.
– No, walking. But with our own walking.
So the mystery remained, how long it would take me, on my own walk.

Text: Θεόφιλος Μπασγιουράκης
Photos: Άννα Καλαϊτζή
Crossing the Vikos Gorge
Categories: Activities
Destinations: EPIRUS, Ioannina

For many years a veil of mystery, like a morning mist, covered the Vikos Gorge. All my knowledge came from some generalized publications or from vague reports of local shepherds and hunters who claimed – no more or less – that it took no more than two hours to cross the gorge.

– By running?I had asked in amazement.

– No, walking. But with our own walking.

So the mystery remained, how long it would take me, on my own walk.

 

The first approaches

I let time roll backwards. And stop around the mid-70s. It was then that I first felt utter awe at the sight of the abysmal cliff of Vikos for the first time. A cliff that descended vertically, for many hundreds of meters below the balcony of the Monastery of Agia Paraskevi, to the narrow canyon bed. Even more frightening was the sense of emptiness beneath the unguarded and narrow stone path, carved into the vertiginous escarpment. After all these years, despite the thousands of images and experiences that have passed since then, the memory of those moments is still vivid; so vivid, in fact, that every time I mentally transport myself down the chaotic path, I can feel my palms getting damp with sweat…

  1. Lambrides (1) mentions: ‘… the head of the one who sees from the summit this amazing abyss is killed, when stones, if any roll, fall noisily from the heights !’

In the years that followed, we went back to Vikos again, but without entering “completely into this horrible and immense chasm” (2).

 

However, this view from afar, this insatiable gazing, hardly corresponded to our exploratory concerns about the gorge. It was only a matter of time before Vikus revealed its occult secrets to us.  So the first “typical” crossing, the one that groups and individuals usually choose (starting from Monodendri and ending in Vikos), took place with a large group of friends in the early 90s. It was a unique experience. The difference, however, in the hikers’ capacity and experience resulted in the former finishing in 5 hours and the latter in 7, literally at the last light in the depths of the gorge.

The encounter with at least three groups of Albanians, who at that time were using the Vikos crossing as one of their usual routes to Greece, was also worrying for everyone.

Since then, our steps have led us several times – and at different times – to the gorge bed. Sometimes with summer heat and plenty of sweat and sometimes with autumn chill and leaves colorful on the branches. There was no shortage of winter conditions, with a thick layer of ice under the bridges of Kokkoros and Misios.

 

 

Crossing Vikos

The late Kostas Lazaridis (3) begins his monograph on Vikos (4) with a quote from the book by the famous French-Swiss photographer and mountaineer Frederic Boissonnas (5): ‘Vikos,is the longest gorge of Zagori. Its steep sides, which are hundreds of metres high, look as if they had been axed by a god’.

Lazaridis adds further down: “The Vikos gorge is a truly strange combination of wildness but also of natural beauty that cannot be described… Because, at the same time that the view of the gorge tends to cause the visitor a certain feeling of awe and horror with the indescribable wildness that is before him, at the same time it attracts, charms, enchants him with some wonderful, rare beauty”.

We set out to cross this magnificent gorge, setting as our starting point, not the most common one from the village of Monodendri, but the most remote one, from the bridge of Kokkoros (6).

 

 

The beginning of the chasm

Before we start our route, however, we consider it appropriate to define the boundaries, i.e. where the Vikos gorge begins and ends. According to Lazaridis, ‘the Vikos gorge essentially begins at the “Stena” position, which is below Tsepelovo and near the monastery of Rogovos’ (7).  So, if one really wants to get a full view of the geomorphology and the extent of the Viko Gorge, then one should start from the ‘Stena’ mentioned by Lazaridis or, above, from the stone bridge of Hatsiou (8).

Here in fact lies the original part of the Vikos Charadra, known as Pano Vikos or Vikaki, from the name of the Vikaki River, which succeeds the Skamnelian Stream. According to the accurate description and data provided by the excellent nature lover and mountaineer Antonis Kalogeros (9), this section of Pano Vikos, from the Hatsiou Bridge to the Kontodimos Bridge (10) below the Gardens, has a total length of 4 540 metres and takes 2 hours to cross (without stops and, in some parts of Vikaki, swimming).

After the bridge of Kontodimos, we follow the wide, flat bed of Vikakis (if it is summer) and in 320 m (7 minutes) we reach the confluence of Vikakis with the stream of the Gardens, which consists of the streams Lithostroto and Myrisi. Continuing along the riverbed for another 300 m (7′) we find ourselves in front of the third stone silhouette of the famous Bridge of Plakidas or Kalogerikos (11).

From this point onwards the river takes the name Bayiotiko Stream, from the old name “Baya” of Kipi. Already the course takes direction D until the bridge of Kokkoros. It is a route along the bed of the Bayiotiko Stream, provided, of course, that it is dry. Even so, it is a tough course, on flat but rough terrain, strewn with small and large pebbles. According to Kalogirou, the route is 1 130 m long and takes 25 minutes (12).

Arriving at the Kokkoros Bridge, we have already completed the first part of the Vikos Harada, from its actual starting point (at the Hatsiou Bridge, below Cepelovo) to our starting point today (at the Kokkoros Bridge, below Koukouli). If, according to Kalogeros’ description, we add all the intermediate sections of the route, then the total length reaches 6,290 m, while the time required is 2:45′. However, an average hiker who, according to Kalogeros, will be obliged to swim 7 times in Vikakis, will, in our opinion, need at least 4 hours.

 

Starting from the Kokkoros Bridge

We are already in the shadow of the imposing Kokkoros Bridge, ready to start our march to the Vikos Gorge. Here the Bayiotiko stream is renamed Xeropotamos. It is not an inappropriate name considering that, for only a short period of time, the river has water.

09:30΄ On the first day of June, we set off with our good friends, Nikos and Vaso, from the Xeropotamos riverbed. Our direction is N and the altitude is 710 m. With marks on the stones, red and blue, we quickly leave the bed and enter a nice dirt path, parallel to the river. Already the nature of Zagori is providing us with a generous shade, under a fascinating variety of trees that are constantly changing: hazel, oak and wine trees, cedars, maples, gorse and willows. Here’s a lone spruce tree. Our ears are constantly caressed by the voices of numerous small birds.

09:40‘ We briefly cross a beautiful rocky path, just above the riverbed, with a protective wall. Here the protagonists are the ferns and a dense forest of anchovies. Beautiful and completely relaxing, a real pleasure to walk.  After the bark forest we come out into the light again, beckoned by a blooming wild rose bush. Impressive, woody holly trees make their appearance and we sink back into the shade.

 

09:55′ A narrow path branches off to the right and ascends towards Koukouli. Already a wide cobbled path begins, with dense bark and hazel trees weaving their branches over it, creating a natural tunnel in complete shade.

10:00‘ In exactly 30 minutes, we arrive at the strong stone pedestal of the famous two-arched bridge of Misios. On the deck of the bridge the altitude is 700 meters.  We admire the magnificent Haradra Gorge, with its towering grey-red limestone cliffs, rising vertically above the dry canyon bed. A bed that one winter, with very low temperatures, we were lucky enough to see frozen.

We cross the bridge and already on the opposite side, on the left (west), begins the ascent of the staircase of Vitsas, the second most famous (after the Vradeto staircase), staircase of Zagori (14).

10:05′ In N orientation we enter the dry bed of Vikos, with a sign for the Monodendri staircase. Walk initially on the left bank, but in two minutes cross the crooked bed and cross to the right, eastern side. Between young fir trees and gorse, a narrow dirt and beautiful path begins, on which we could walk for hours without stopping. Unfortunately, this bliss barely lasts. In just ten minutes, we’re back on the riverbed. After the pleasurable contact of the soft earth on our feet, we are greeted again by the pebbles of the canyon. Flowering acacia trees are added to the vegetation, our path is marked by red marks and cuckoos (small stones).

10:20’  At a sign on the left we return to a pleasant path that lasts 5 minutes. Immediately afterwards you meet a “sara” (15) and the path becomes mixed, dirt and stony.

10:30΄  Just as we start to adapt to the conditions of the new route, the path leads us back to the canyon bed. Here, an unexpected water surface makes its appearance. It is an elongated “ovira”, that is, a waterhole, with a visible length of at least 80 meters and a maximum width of about 20 meters. On the absolutely still, untrodden surface of the water we admire the spectacular reflections of vegetation and rocks.

In this serene place we give ourselves a break, vainly waiting for some representative of wildlife to appear and quench our thirst with the cool water.

 

10:40’  A trace of a red sign and a hint of a path on the left bank are enough to make us certain that the continuation of the route is somewhere there. Very quickly the trail moves into the roots of large sloughs, penetrates into dense tree branches that we can hardly move aside and, in general, becomes rough and unclear. It is obvious that at some point we have lost the “mite” that reliably leads to crossing the canyon. After 10 minutes of fruitless attempts, we re-enter the bed, in front of a barrier of huge and difficult to access rocks, the result – apparently – of giant landslides in an indeterminate geological past .

And while we are wondering whether we should return to the ovira to reconsider the route or look around for a sign, my eyes suddenly discover a subtle trail that looks like a path on the right bank. Half a minute later, we are relieved to find that we are on a normal, “readable” trail, with red-white and O3 signs.

Walking downstream of the gully (i.e. in reverse), we meet an old acquaintance in a few dozen meters: the tough uphill route, which leads from the gorge bed to Kapesovo.In a few minutes we come out on the open side of the gully and recognize the sign on the right (as we were going up) bank, which had distracted our attention.

 

11:10’ After a half-hour delay we continue our journey. We are in awe of the – hundreds of meters high – vertical cliff of the solid rocks that tower in front of us. We follow a smoother, dirt path that looks like a highway to our eyes. Not to be spoiled, however, at some point we re-enter the bed and encounter the familiar – from the past – successive cuckoos, so characteristic.

11:25’   At an altitude of 670 m. we meet the fork and the sign for Monodendri on the left. We temporarily leave the riverbed and take the uphill path to Monodendri. In 5 minutes – and at an altitude of 680m – we find a new fork, which on the left ascends towards Monodendri, with the “Skala to Monodendri”, while on the right it continues towards the settlement of Vikos, our final destination. Of course we continue to the right.

11:35’  A prominent and generally rocky path begins, with successive ups and downs in a continuous and unbroken bark forest.

11:45’  We are at the base of an impressive vertical rock, with a complex ivy root system that has been integrally embedded in the surface of the rock for who knows how many years.

12:00  Having crossed two smooth sares, we find in front of us, for several tens of meters, a steep and difficult downhill, which takes us to the canyon bed. We notice a plaque of the E.O.S. of Ioannina dated 23.9.2012 in memory of Elias Kazantzis, who died here. We make a short stop in the shade. To the dominant hitherto dominant bark trees have been added, with their smooth trunks, and ferns. Pleasant visual details, among the rocky bed, are the small ovira with clear water.

12:20’  The stop ends, a wonderful breeze cools the midday atmosphere that surrounds us, warm and humid in the canyon funnel. For a few minutes, rough terrain troubles our steps. Well-made stone steps and a narrow canyon with carved hollow rocks follow. The trail continues shady and cool, alive with blackbirds and other small insects.

12:40’   We reach a narrow passage, about 15 metres long, on the slope of a steep slope, which will not please the acrophobes. Compared to the past, of course, the situation is now improved (16).

A vast and spectacularly beautiful forest of white and black anchovies – many of which are perennial – adds diversity and aesthetic interest to the route. Never a nature hiker is bored on Vico, different ecosystems and landscapes succeed each other without interruption.

 

This gorge, however, which fills us with such intense emotions, has not been mentioned by the ancient writers. This inexplicable omission had also made an impression on I. Lambrides, who noted in 1870 in his ‘Zagoriaka’: “It is a wonder how this solemn gap escaped the attention of the ancient historians of Epirus”. Further down, Lambrides says: “Some of the Europeans were informed of their wise calamity… about the nickname of Vikos, but unfortunately the facts of these are not true”.

We can therefore consider that the first to write about Viko and Zagori in the middle of the 19th century were G. Hasiotis, I. Lambrides, N. Tsigaras and K. Varzokas, in 1954 Petros Giannakos in ‘Epirus Hestia’ and Takis Danos, in his writing ‘In Viko’s Haradra’, an extract of which he mentions: “It is really worth it to cross this gorge, a unique phenomenon in all of Europe according to the experts. In it you will find yourself in another world, the world of silence and stillness. You will find yourself in the kingdom of the wild …’.

We continue on a very downhill and slippery path, covered with garbage. A rocky uphill, assisted by a rope, follows.

 

13:10’ It shows us the huge chasm of Megalakkos which, starting in the form of a shallow rocky gully from the southern foothills of Tymfi, evolves into a magnificent and inaccessible gorge that ends in Vikos.

Already in 10 minutes we reach the “Klima” spring, at an altitude of 630 m. A little lower is the confluence of the Klima stream – which flows through Megalakko – with Vikos, which gurgles with crystal clear water. Unfortunately, the Klima Fountain, built in 2008, is dry. It is the first time in our many visits that we have been deprived of the cool water of this spring. Our disappointment is great.

-Let’s have a little patience, I tell my friends. In about two hours we will quench our thirst with the cold, divine water of the Voidomatis.

 

13:30΄ With the expectation of Boydomatis we leave Klima. One of the most beautiful parts of the route begins, with a nice trail, shaded by towering white and black anchovies, some of which exceed 25 meters in height. Lower down, in the bed of Haradra, we are accompanied by the sweet-sounding murmur of the Vikos, which flows between the stones with transparent water.We are all grateful for the great privilege of being able to hike in the Vikos gorge, in a landscape so special.

But how did the name “Vikos” come about and what does it mean? According to the prevailing opinion, which was supported in 1870 by Lambrides in his ‘Zagoriaka’, ‘… the word is, like most places in Zagori, Slavic, meaning a place of echoes’.

 

And indeed, the echo of a voice or even the crack of a rifle creates something very strange in the canyons of this ravine. As K. Thesprotos and A. Psalis (18) very characteristically mention: ‘… in this great chasm, as you empty your rifle, you hear the sound repeated 10 or 12 times in succession, reflected in the rocky caves, until it disappears’.

Now and then we also make a voice.  The echo is returned to us, of course, but not in multiples. Perhaps it is the volume of the voice, but rather the choice of the sign, which is not conducive to the creation of multiple echoes of the voice.

An unusual image attracts our attention. It is a horse chestnut tree, planted not on the ground but in a rock. The trail is still always very enjoyable. However, for some time now, the chirping of the water has ceased to accompany us, it has disappeared into the depths of the canyon bed. At some point the NW horizon opens up, revealing in the distance the giant, solid wall of the Guvostitsa rocks, on the SW foothills of Astraka.  With an altitude of 1,900 metres at its summit, Guvostitsa creates the most abysmal chasm of the Vikos, an altitude difference to the bed that exceeds 1,300 metres (19)!

14:30’  We arrive at an old iconostasis, a combination of stone and cement.There is a giant sloping rock, which has created a unique natural canopy, an absolute protection from hostile weather.

15:20’  For the first time we see, through the foliage of the trees, the familiar wooden gazebo, our desired destination at the “Rachi” position of the village of Vikos, one of the top observatories of the gorge. For the first time we see, through the foliage of the trees, the familiar wooden gazebo, our desired destination in the “Rachi” position of the village of Vikos, one of the top observation posts of the gorge. Already, for a few minutes now, the first plane trees and pieces of old cobblestone have made their appearance.

15:35’ A sign, at an altitude of 505 metres, shows us a not very distinct path towards Papigo and the Voidomatis springs. The roar of the river can already be heard low down.We climb for a few minutes up a narrow, roughly built cobbled path. Blooming sage scents our footsteps. The uphill becomes grim, with steps and gravel. The sun, which had been hidden until now, emerges through leaden clouds, particularly hot.

15:50   At the end of the uphill, a fork leads downhill to the right towards the chapel of Panagia, while the straight ahead begins the calvary to Vikos. Initially on a smooth path and then on a rough cobbled path, it takes about 7 minutes to reach the beautiful clearing in the forest above the course of the Voidomatis. A true jewel of the natural environment is the Panagia of Charadra, the small one-room church, with a gabled roof covered with slate.

Very picturesque, the chapel was once the Catholicos of the Monastery of Panagia, built in 1738.  The painting of the interior of the church is due to the Soudenios painter priest Ioannis and his sons in 1773. The style of the hagiography of the church is in line with the popular painting trends that prevailed in Epirus in the 18th century. The wood-carved iconostasis was built in 1761. It is worth mentioning that portable icons of the 18th century were found in the church, as well as one of Christ Pantokrator from 1694. However, in its current state, the chapel needs some maintenance, care and overall upgrading to withstand the inevitable wear and tear of time.

The devotion at the religious monument is followed in a minute by our admiration for another monument, the nature of Vikos. It is the first stages of the genesis of the Voidomatis, a gigantic natural pool of incredible beauty, with the most transparent, turquoise and crystal clear waters of any Greek river.All around, a large and lively group of boys and girls are enjoying the privileges of their age and carelessness, while the more daring ones are testing their strength in the icy water of the river. We kneel on the ground, literally and figuratively, plunge our faces into the stream, quench our thirst with the divine water that springs up through the stones a few meters above the riverbed.

16:20’ As we start to climb up from the river bank a flash at first and immediately afterwards a muffled thunder warns us of the impending weather development. We quicken our pace but at the entrance to the church the rain breaks out, a violent, authentic summer rain. We find temporary shelter inside the church. In ten minutes we attempt a heroic exit, the rain has somewhat abated.

16:45’ We start the ascent under constant rain which, once it has soaked us, ceases to bother us. As we gain altitude and come out into the openings, the wind picks up, the rain reminds us of icy darts in our faces. Most annoying and unpleasant, however, are the wet, slippery stones of the cobblestone road that ends in the village. This is the famous winding “Viko’s Ladder” which, of course, is a minor – or major – ordeal after so many hours of walking.

Breath-taking miniatures, a stone iconostasis in a nice vantage point, a few more turns and at 17:30′, 45′ from the chapel of Panagia, we reach the asphalt road at the entrance of the village.

We have completed, from 09:30 in the morning to 17:30 in the afternoon, 8 hours of total stay and march in the gorge of Viko. We consult our notes and conclude that the time of the clear march is exactly 6:15′.

Epilogue

As a reward to the rain-soaked and the uphill travellers, the nature of Zagori draws its generosity and gives the order to stop the rain. Black clouds, pushed by the winds, constantly changing their volume and position in the sky, moving away from us, crowding into the highlands of Astraka.At the same time, a bright afternoon sun finds its way through the clouds and sheds fiery beams of light on the rocks of Guvostitsa.

We too emerge from our sheds and climb a few meters to Viko’s “Rachi”, next to the gazebo. We welcome our good friend, the teacher Kostas Ioannidis, to his own “Rachi”, his beautiful little shop with a variety of herbs and traditional products of Zagori.Our friend hears that we have just passed Viko and invites us for a tsipouroki. Not at a typical table with chairs but in his little garden, on handmade stools. Next to the gazebo and on the edge of the cliff, his orchard is Viko’s top balcony. From here we let our eyes and our reveries wander into the vast funnel of the ravine that, a few hours ago, revealed some of its wonderful secrets.

The Teacher accompanies the tsipouro with fragrant vegetarian pies that his wife, Dora, had just a few hours ago, made. This fine chippuraki and these cheese pies with herbs and greens are hard to forget.

Shall I say I’m not tired? That would be a lie. But it is a sweet fatigue and I bless myself for having felt it with my friends in a place like this.

 

 

(1) Ioannou Lampridou “Epirotic Goods, Zagoria” in Athens 1870 (Reprinted by the Society of Epirotic Studies, Ioannina 1971).

(2) Lampridis, n.p.

(3) Kostas Lazaridis from Koukouli (1904-1989) was a teacher, writer, historian, naturalist and folklorist. During his life he collected and classified (mentioning their Latin names) more than 1,250 different species of plants from the Vikos Gorge and the wider area of Zagori. Among these are the medicinal herbs used by the famous ‘Vikoyatrians’.

(4) K. Lazaridis, ‘Come to Zagori to admire the Charadra of Vikos’, Giannina 1970.

(5) “L’ Epire berceau des Grecs”, Geneva 1914. Boissonnas, together with his companion Daniel Baud Bovy and the hunter Christos Kakkalos from Litochoro, were the first people to conquer in August 1913, the peak of Mytikas on Mount Olympus.

(6) The imposing bridge of Kokkoros or Noutsos, is one of the most photographed of Zagori. It was first built in 1750, with money from Nutsos Kontodimos from Vradeto. In 1910, its maintenance was financed with money from Grigoris Kokkoros from Koukouli, which is why its current name has prevailed ever since.

(7) Hellenic Panorama, issue 84, Nov – Dec 2011.

(8) The bridge was built according to Lambrides, in 1804 by the Csepelovite Lambros Hatzios. It is a large single-arch bridge, with an arch span of 17.50 metres, an arch height of 9.90 metres, a deck length of 43.20 metres and a width of 4.90 metres. This bridge is considered to be one of the oldest monolithic bridges in Zagori. It was built around 1700 with the sponsorship of the Skamneliotian George Partalis. It has an arch span of 9,50 m, a height of 10 m and a width of 2,80 m.

(9) A.Kalogirou, “The paths of Zagori”, books A+B, Kritiki 2005.

(10) The bridge of Kontodimou is located at the exit of the Vikaki gorge, at an altitude of 745 metres. It was built in 1753 with the sponsorship of Takis Kontodimos from Vradeto. The span of the arch is 15 m, the height 7.80 m, the length of the deck 20 m and the width 2.90 m.

(11) The impressive and most photographed bridge of Zagori was built in 1814 with the sponsorship of the Abbot of the Monastery of Prophet Elias Vitsas, Seraphim. It was then maintained by the Plakida families, the Koukouli community and the Archaeological Service. The spans of the arches are 15 -13.5 and 11.20 meters. The corresponding 6 – 7.60 and 4.80 meters. the total length of the deck is 56 meters and the width is 3.15 meters.

(12) At midday, summer, when we made the crossing, it took us 35′.

(13) According to Kalogirou, the distance of 1,000m. between the Kokkoros and Misios bridges is normally covered in 20′, but not including our own stops for photos and notes.

(14) An exciting and completely original article about the most important “Stairs” of Zagori (Vradetou, Vitsa, Kipi, Koukouliou, Monodendriou, Vikos, Kakia Skala) has been published in Helliniko Panorama, issue 84, Nov-Dec. 2011.

(15) “Sara” on an outdoor route we call a steep slope, covered with small and large stones, which make it slippery and, depending on the slope, dangerous.

(16) We had a not-so-pleasant experience, fortunately without unpleasant consequences, with a lady of our company, years ago, at the first crossing of Vikos.

(17) Fascinating description of Megalakkos and Kakia Skala in Greek Panorama issue 84, Nov-Dec. 2011.

(18) “Geography of Albania and Epirus”, 1964

(19) According to the “Guinness” book, the Vikos gorge is the deepest in the world in proportion to its width, since at some point the depth is 900 and the width is 1,100 meters (the depth is 81% of the width).

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