Papingon Travel Guide

Papingo is more touristic that the other Zagori villages so it was no surprise to see even the tacky souvenirs you see everywhere (fridge magnets etc)

But if you want something local you better buy dairy products, chestnuts, apples, walnuts, honey, spoon desserts made out of local fruits, mushrooms, jams, pickles and local meats. And pies of course although we eat them before we even go back to Ioannina city :)

The oldest inhabitants of this area known as the vlachs. Vlachs were the romaniced people from the Balkans. It is said that their main activities are pastoral: mostly trading, shepherding and craftmanship.

Like the rest of the population, since the 1950s, Vlachs have been emigrating from their villages to the cities and especially the capital, Athens. Many Vlachs return to the villages during the summer.

Luggage and bags: I highly recommed you bring all your food supplies if you plan to be in the area for a long period. Especially out of season as the are no local shops. The closest grocery is in Kalpaki, 30 minutes drive in the zig zag roads.

4 more images

Favorite thing: As in every Zagori village you see the traditional architecture of the area in Papingo too. At late 16th century inhabitants of smaller settlements around gathered in Papingo and in both villages (Megalo and Mikro Papingo) you can see the same layout as in every Zagori village which is a central square (that has a huge plane tree) that is dominated by the public functions (the church, the school, the café and the central fountain for water). Then around them are the houses, close one to another for defensive reasons, high walls and solid wooden gates. Finally there’s a maze of cobble stone paths that start from the central square and connects the pastures, fields, other workplaces and neighboring settlements.
Most of the buildings are in strict geometrical form with basic clean volumes all made by stone (usually remains uncoated) and always a roof by schistolith.
Talking about such roofs we saw a man working on a roof during our visit (pic 4)
By the way depending on the local natural assets you can see lot of wood (frames, ceilings, floors)

There are four different periods in local architecture:
1600-1700. Small rectangular buildings with ground floor, low interiors, doors and small arched windows. The staircase is external and the focal point lies in the middle of the building.
1700-1750. The buildings are higher, with larger windows and interior balcony. The first floor has four bedrooms, kitchen, living room (mantzato) and room for visitors (ontas).
1750-1850. The buildings are more taller and more comfortable, with wooden rooms where there is the closet, and even decorations on the ceilings and frescoes in ontas.
1850-1880. Large two or three-storey houses with large reception rooms, spacious living rooms and auxiliary rooms, cellars and pantries (mbimtses).

The old houses of Papingo were built in the last 2 periods by craftsmen that came from villages in Konitsa or Tzoumerka. The painters were from Chioniades in Konitsa.

In Papingo you can also see some stone bridges that are typical in the area (about 100 in Zagori area), the first one is between Megalo and Mikro Papingo (at Lakkos spot). It was built in 1854 by Anastasios Lolis and has one arch connecting the districts with the old path. The other bridge is located at Mpoulougounsa near Megalo Papingo and its very small.