Itisallgreek2me

Partial view of Metsovo and Pindos mountains

Metsovo is the centre in Greece of the Vlach people, who claim descent from Latin speaking Wallachians, of what is now Romania and originally, they were shepherds who followed their flocks.  With the vast majority of inhabitants of Metsovo being of Vlach origin, they are bilingual – speaking both Greek and Vlach/Aromanian.  Walking about the streets today, on occasion I heard a little of this strange sounding language.

As in all settlements in Greece, the Plateia (Square) is the centre of life and in Metsovo, that is most certainly the case with one corner seemingly reserved for the elderly Greek men, many of whom arrive and leave, assisted by their walking sticks.  Located next to the Plateia is the beautiful Church of Agia Paraskevi.  In conversation with the person on duty, I learnt that the Church and the massive tree outside, are both some 700 years’ old.

The architecture in Metsovo differs from anything else I have seen in Greece.  Featuring stone and woodwork, many of the houses are like Swiss chalet style and with Mediterranean tiled roofs.  Almost every available square metre of land in between and around the houses has been cultivated with thriving flower gardens and vegetable plots.  Public areas, in particular, are home to some very impressive trees.

I have always believed Metsovo to be a very traditional Greek village and I am sure it was and still is today, however, only up to a point.   Looking down the mountain on to the scared hillsides with motorways and new roads, one understands something of how in many ways, life here has changed.  Old Greece is vanishing!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 12th, 2010 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.