Northern Greece

Vavouri is in Epirus, the poorest area of the EU before the latest expansion. After WWII and the Greek civil war most of the inhabitants migrate either to Athens or abroad. The villages are pretty much empty. In 2002 I was photographing a village in the area where the population was 26 all of them above 65. So don’t expect to visit a vibrant and full of life village.

The locals are very proud of their traditions and art and it’s likely that after few days in the village the doors will open for you so you can photograph interiors of houses, folk costumes icons and artefacts, if they have any.

If you are into hiking the area is ideal for that, as the village is in the mountain of Mourgana.

It’s worth visiting the monastery of Kamitsiani the village of Lias and if you have time and transportations a day trip to Jiannina will be advisable. Also it’s worth going to Nekromantion and the gates of Hades (about an hour by car).

If you are adventurous enough you can cross the mountain in the Greek Albanian border from tsamantas and visit the village of Ano Lesinitsa (3 hrs walking) in southern Albania, which is much better preserved that the Greek villages, full of beautiful old houses that haven’t been renovated and really nice people.

Hope you will have a good time there