Experience an idyllic, mountainous fairytale at Heaven’s View, overlooking the imposing volcanoes proudly overlooking the Garden, as well as the Baia River, the stone arched bridges and the colorful Zagorian nature that takes a breath away.
One of the most beautiful Zagorohoria, Kipoi (the Gardens), 39 kilometers from Ioannina, is named after the many gardens and vineyards that exist in the area. It is also called “village of the bridges”, as it is framed by magnificent arched Epirus bridges, with the most important triplexed bridge of Plakida or Kalogiarikos, the photographed bridge of Kokoris, the bridge of Kontodemos or Lazaridis, the stone bridge of Mylos, the bridge of Petsonis of Misius. The architecture of the site owes its authenticity to the unique iron-plate of the area, a stone burned by volcanos of the Paleolithic era.
As it was a big village, it has stunning stone mansions, half-hidden by the lush vegetation, amphitheatrically built in the barrier between Gamila and Mitsikeli, huts with arched openings, stone-made streets and tiny squares, compose the picturesque, beautiful village Kipoi, settlements in Central and Western Zagori has been declared a traditional settlement, with a 1975 presidential decree.
Within close proximity to Heaven’s View are the important landmarks of the place, such as the Folklore Museum of Agapios Tolos, the Botanical Museum “Kostas Lazaridis”, with 1,300 kinds of edible plants, in Koukouli, hanging at the edge of the Rove Monastery in Tsepelovo and the monastery of Agia Paraskevi (1412) in Monodendri.
At Kipi you will also find ATM of Piraeus Bank.
The “place behind the mountain”, as translated by the Slavic word Zagori, and its 46 adjacent settlements, the Zagorohoria, tight in their center, exude a nobleman of past centuries. Zagori is a historical site of Epirus with unparalleled natural beauty, unique terrain morphology, altitude differences and many rivers that justify the creation of a rich network of roads and bridges. Paving streets, cobbled streets, stone stairs, trails and more than 100 bridges are the main ornaments of Zagorohoria. The unique beauty of the place hides fascinating treasures such as the two national forests, one of which includes the Aoos River and the Vikos Gorge, and another area around Valia Calda, east of the imposing snow-covered Typhis.
The idyllic scenery of Zagori, combined with stone mansions, famous libraries and folk museums, is already a distinct place among the international destinations of mountain, natural, cultural and religious tourism.
These are some of the reasons why Zagori is the official proposal of the Ministry of Culture for the inclusion of a Greek cultural landscape in the UNESCO World Heritage List. This decision is also a prerequisite for registration in the World Heritage List. Already, the holy forests of Zagori and Konitsa are now part of the Sacred Natural Sites network and recorded in the UNESCO’s National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Also in the Asprangeli settlement there is a WWF information center.
