As we exit north of Preveza, the fertile plain reaches its limits. A few kilometres later, the uphills begin. These are the mountains of Zalongo. The name of the place is inextricably linked to the sacrifice of the Soulioti women and their children, so that they would not fall into the hands of Ali Pasha. The famous monument of Zongolopoulos with its giant silhouettes, dominates already from far away on the edge of the cliff. If, however, this modern monument is visible from everywhere, another monument, of ancient Hellenism, remains unseen on the opposite heights of the mountain. It is the ruined polity of ancient Kassopi, largely unknown to the general public. Like so many historical and archaeological sites of this place…

IN ANCIENT KASSOPI

In these two monuments of Hellenism, the ancient and the modern, we will direct our steps for a while. Our first stop is Ancient Kassopi.

The starting point of our tour is the semi-mountainous settlement of Kamarina and our base is the guesthouse “Michobeis“. It is an excellent accommodation at the foot of Zalongo, which from an altitude of 400 meters overlooks everything.

We head north and, about two kilometres later, at a bend in the road, we meet a dirt road on the left and a sign for Ancient Kassopi. A relaxing 200-metre walk along the pine forest road leads us in front of the gate of the archaeological site. A few meters later, the magnificent plateau of Kassopi is revealed to our eyes.

INTO THE PAST

But when did the ancient state exist? What are its historical origins?

The capital of Kassopaea was founded around 340 BC in a naturally fortified position, on the southern heights of the ancient mountain Pteleon (today’s mountains of Zalongo). At the beginning of the 4^th century BC, the city became the religious and economic centre of the Kassopians and the political and administrative centre of the Commonwealth of Epirus. In the 4^th century, the population of the city was estimated at 9,000 inhabitants.

Kassopi gained its economic power through livestock farming and the products of the fertile plain of the Acheron River. From the 3^rd century, however, the Kassopians turned to trade, mainly with the West but also with Athens. There were two important ports of Kassopi, one at present-day Michalitsi on the Amvrakikos and the other at present-day Kastrosikia, on the Ionian Sea. In the 2^nd century BC, the processing of purple also flourished.

Indicative of prosperity and power was that the city had its own mint. Its coinage depicted Zeus on one side and an eagle with a thunderbolt on the other.

The destruction of the continental cities by the Romans in 167 BC also affected Kassopi, but from the middle of the 2^nd century BC, with the reconstitution of the Community of Continentals, it experienced a small period of economic recovery and reconstruction. The final abandonment of the city is associated with the founding of Nicopolis by Octavian Augustus after his victory over Antony at Actium in 31 BC, when the inhabitants of Kassopi, like many other cities, were forced by the emperor to settle in the new city.

THE WONDROUS RUINS OF KASSOPI

The excavations at the site were carried out by Professor Sotirios Dakaris in the years 1952-55. They continued in the period 1977-83 with the cooperation of the German Archaeological Institute and the University of Ioannina. In 2003, the II Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities started a wide-ranging programme of work, funded by the C. Community Support Framework for the improvement of the infrastructure and the promotion of the site.

It is a real pleasure to walk for the fourth time in recent years through the excellent horizontal and vertical streets of the city, to admire the magnificent buildings with the excellent polygonal masonry, to reach the very edge of the strongest fortification and the Macedonian tomb and finally to climb up to the great theatre on the rocky slope. A gigantic theatre, with a unique view of the Amvrakikos and the Ionian Sea, but heavily damaged by the omnipotent time and the indifference of the descendants.

Kassopi is built at an altitude of 550-620 meters, on a spacious plateau on the western slopes of the Zalongo mountain range. Its total area is about 300 acres. From the north and northwest it is protected by a rocky and steep ridge with two peaks, which served as citadels. The naturally fortified position is reinforced by a strong polygonal wall, 3.30-3.50 m thick. The total perimeter reached 2,630 metres. Two main gates, east and west, opened into the wall, where the main artery running through the city ended.

The city was built with an organized urban plan:

Parallel roads 4.50 m wide, in a north-south direction, intersected with two wider vertical roads 6 m wide in an E-W direction and formed narrow-long building blocks (1). Two houses of equal dimensions (14.40 x 15.60 m) and 225 m2 in area are built on the width of each building island. They are south-facing and are separated lengthwise by a 1.20 m wide drainage corridor, the “perimeter“. In the circumstance, water collected from the roofs and bathhouses of the houses and, through a complete network of pipes, was channelled outside the city wall.

The houses were two-storey, built with stone polygonal masonry at the bottom (2) and raw bricks with timber frames in the superstructure. The front doorway led to an open courtyard, with which the “man“, the “pile” and the space for the storeroom or stable communicated.

The “men’s” was the host’s banquet room. It had 7 beds, arranged around the perimeter, and was lit by large windows. The “house” was the core of the house and was the main room for two floors high, with the hearth in the centre. The floors of the courtyard and the rooms were covered with clay and the walls were white plastered. A wooden staircase led to the first floor of the house, where two bedrooms were located. The water supply of Kassopi was provided by springs. Large water reservoirs were located in the northern part of the town and in both citadels, ensuring a sufficient supply of water in case of a siege.

The centre of the political, administrative and religious life of the city was the “Agora”. It is the open-air space where citizens gathered to take part in open assemblies, votes, trials or religious ceremonies. The dimensions of the Agora are impressive, measuring 70 metres long and 60 metres wide. An altar dedicated to Zeus the Saviour was placed in the western part.

On the west side of the Agora there was the “Prytaneion”, which was the administrative centre of the city and the seat of the rectors. The building had rooms for the rectors’ banquets and for the feeding of persons honoured by the city. At the same time it housed the “common hearth“, where the unquenchable “sacred fire of the city was kept.

At the end of the 3^rd century BC, the Parliament Building was constructed on the eastern side of the Agora, with an imposing view of the entire horizon and in the form of an open theatre. The “hollow”, carved out of natural rock, had a capacity of about 2,000 spectators.

North of the Agora there is a monumental building. It measures 30 x 32.60 metres and was constructed at the end of the 3^rd century BC. It is the famous “Katagogio“, i.e. a public guesthouse of the city for the accommodation of honoured persons. The polygonal masonry of large limestones is outstanding, except for the SE corner, which is built according to the isodic system (3). The building was constructed with raw bricks, reinforced with timber ties and internally plastered. Bricks (4) were used in the corners of the walls for stability.

We could go on for a long time about the wondrous examples of Kassopi’s past. And of course we could talk about the uniquely evocative site that the ancient Kassopians chose for the creation of their city. A place that can enchant the visitor for hours.

IN THE SACRED SITE OF ZALONGO

As we ascend towards the settlement of Kamarina, the emblematic figures of the Soulioti women, high up on the rock of Zalongo, become gigantic in our eyes. The minimum tribute we ought to pay to the memory of the sacrifice of the heroic women is a visit to the site of the monument.

The ascent begins from the courtyard of the Monastery of St. Demetrios of Zalongo from an altitude of 630 meters. Constantly uphill, the path consists of wide paving and intermediate steps, made of carved granite stone, reaching a total of 410 to the top of the rock. Here the altitude is 740 metres, an altitude difference of 110 metres, which is covered in 12-15 minutes.

Reaching the plateau where the monument has been erected, the feeling is overwhelming. Not only from the awe at the view of the terrible cliff but mainly from the emotional charge that the giant figures of the sculptor G. Zongolopoulos convey to us. Forms that depict with Doric simplicity the legendary dance of the women, when each of them, reaching the edge of the cliff, separated from the others and floated away.

This heroic death was decided in December of 1803 by the Soulioti women to avoid captivity and disgrace by Ali Pasha. Earlier they had thrown their young children into the abyss. This was the tragic end of the long struggle of Souliotes against Ali.

But apart from this supreme act of sacrifice, which has since accompanied Zalongo with eternal glory and honour, there was another historical event in the region of Kamarina, dramatic but little known. It is the “Battle of Kamarina” in April 1897, in the context of the Greek-Turkish War of 1897. It was preceded by the looting and burning of the village by Turkish troops after the revolt of the Preveza province in Kamarina under the leadership of Konstantinos Tzortzis or Zacharakis. A figure of the battle with unparalleled heroism was the priest of Kamarina, Papamichalis Papageorgiou, who occupied battle positions around the stairs and rocks of Zalongo, with 40 men. In the fierce battle that ensued with the more numerous Turks, 32 defenders and Papamichalis among them fell heroically fighting. Thus, almost a century after the sacrifice of Souliotes, the rock of Zalongo was again watered with new Greek blood.

But even the monastery of St. Demetrios of Zalongo, which had given shelter and food to the guerrilla fighters of Kamarin, was not spared from the Turkish fury. Here we should note that the monastery of St. Demetrios was a part of the ancient (8^th-11^th century) monastery of the St. Archangels Michael and Gabriel (its ruins still survive a few minutes from the monument of Zalongo).

According to the “Prevezanika Chronika” (issue 29-30, Jan-Dec 1993), “After the battle and the extermination of the priest Michael and the 32 Kamarinians, the Turks entered the historic monastery and killed the monks Athanasios Dourachanis and Nikolaos Katsoupis, they speared the eyes of the Saints in the frescoes of 1816 and then burned the despotic and other portable icons inside the Holy Church and roasted their lambs in the fireplace”.

Today the monastery is a peaceful nunnery. As we descend from our pilgrimage climb to the Zalongo Monument we enter the church. A half-light solemnity prevails. “The bridegroom comes in the midst of the night,” the choir of nuns chants in an angelic voice.

THANKS

We warmly thank the wonderful guesthouse “MICHOBEIS” in Kamarina, and personally Eftychia Papamichael, for her unforgettable hospitality.

REFERENCES

1. The grid of horizontal and vertical streets divides the city into approximately 60 rectangular blocks of buildings with a fixed width of 30.30 metres. It is the geometric urban plan first initiated by the Greek colonies of southern Italy at the end of the 7^th century BC and perfected in the 5^th century BC.The famous urban planner, mathematician and architect Hippodamus of Miletus, whose name was given to the well-known “Hippodamian System“.
2. The precise carving and assembly of the boulders in the polygonal masonry of the houses and the wall is a work that deserves our attention and admiration. With special carving, the boulders were “locked” into each other for excellent seismic protection.
3. It is the type of masonry, very common in antiquity, consisting of rows of carved stones of equal size and rectangular parallelepiped shape.
4. Clay bricks are rectangular rectangular parallelepiped shaped bricks, consisting of clay soil, a small amount of sand and water. They are first dried in the air and then baked in special kilns.