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Ancient history |
The Greek name Epirus signifies "mainland" or "continent", and was originally
applied to the whole coast south to the Corinthian Gulf. Epirus was
settled by Greeks early in the first millennium BC but remained a frontier area
contested with the Illyrian peoples of the Adriatic coast.
Epirus was ruled from
the 6th century by a dynasty, the Molossians, who claimed to be descended from
Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. The main importance of Epirus to the Greek cities
(polis) was that it was the location of the shrine and the oracle at Dodona,
second in importance only to the oracle at Delphi. Arymbas II was a
respected figure in the ancient world, and his niece, Olympias, married Philip
II of Macedon and was the mother of Alexander the Great.
On the death of Arymbas,
Alexander succeeded the throne and the
title King of Epirus.
Aeacides, who succeeded Alexander,
espoused the cause of Olympias against
Cassander, but was dethroned in
313 BC. His son
Pyrrhus came to throne in
295 BC, and for six years fought against
the
Romans in southern
Italy and
Sicily. His campaigns gave Epirus a new,
but brief, importance.
In the third century BC Epirus remained a
substantial power, and the
Epirotes attempted to gain control of
Macedonia, but in the 2nd century they
blundered into war against the Romans, and
in
168 BC the Romans pillaged the country
and effectively ended its independence. In
146 BC it became part of the
province of Roman Macedonia, receiving
the name Epirus Vetus, to distinguish it
from Epirus Nova to the east. |
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Medieval |
For the next 400 years Epirus was ruled
from Rome, until in the 4th century AD it
passed to the rule of
Constantinople. When Constantinople fell
to the
Fourth Crusade in
1204,
Michel Angelus Comnenus seized
Aetolia and Epirus, and his family ruled
the area until
1318. After a period of confusion
Charles II Tocco, lord of
Cephalonia and
Zante, assumed the title of
Despot of Epirus..
Beginning late of 1350s until 1416 parts
of Epirus were ruled by Albanian aristocrat
families Shpata and Zenebishi. In 1416 Arta,
the last Albanian fort was taken by Charles
II Tocco.
In
1443
Skenderbeg, revolted against the Ottoman
Empire and conquered Northern Epirus, but on
his death it fell to
Venice. In the late 15th century, the
whole area was overrun by the
Ottomans, who ruled it for the next 400
years, the Venetians retaining only a few
strongholds along the coast. Under the
Ottomans Epirus remained a backwater, with a
mixed population of Christians and Muslims.
In the 18th century, as the power of the
Ottomans declined, Epirus became a virtually
independent region under the despotic rule
of
Ali Tepelenė, an Albanian brigand who
became pasha, or provincial governor,
of Ioannina in
1788, and at one time controlled much of
western Greece and Albania. When the
Greek War of Independence broke out, Ali
tried to make himself an independent ruler,
but he was deposed and murdered by Ottoman
agents in
1822. When Greece became independent,
Epirus remained under Ottoman rule. |
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Recent history |
The
Treaty of Berlin of
1881 gave Greece parts of southern
Epirus, but it was not until the
Balkan Wars of
1912-13
that rest of southern Epirus was returned to
Greece. But the Greeks resented the fact
that northern Epirus had been given to the
new state of Albania, despite the mostly
Greek character of towns like
Korytsį (Korēė in Albanian) and
Argyrókastro (Gjirokastėr).
When
World War I broke out in
1914, Albania collapsed. Under a March
1915 agreement among the Allies, Italy
seized northern Albania and Greece set up
the autonomous Greek state of North Epirus
in the southern part of the country.
Although short-lived, the state of North
Epirus managed to leave behind a number of
historical records of its existence,
including its own postage stamps; see
Postage stamps and postal history of Epirus.
Although the
Paris Peace Conference of
1919 awarded the area to Greece after
World War I, political developments such
as the Greek defeat in the
Greco-Turkish War and, crucially,
Italian lobbying in favour of its client
state Albania meant that Greece could not
sustain its claim to northern Epirus, and
the area was finally ceded to Albania in
1924.
Italy occupied Albania in
1939, and in
1940 invaded Greece. The Greeks
counterattacked and soon occupied northern
Epirus. But the German invasion of April
1941 saw the defeat of Greece, and the
whole of Epirus was placed under Italian
occupation until
1943, when the Germans took over. The
highlands of Epirus became a major theatre
of guerilla resistance to the occupation.
Following the German withdrawal from Greece
in
1944, the nationalist resistance
movements tried to reclaim northern Epirus
for Greece, but the
Communist Party of Greece, which
controlled the largest part of the Greek
resistance movement, supported their fellow
Communists in Albania in returning the area
to Albanian control. The mountains of Epirus
were the scene of some of the fiercest
fighting of the
Greek Civil War.
Despite these tensions, the governments
of both Greece and Albania have made a
concerted effort in recent years to
transcend the enmities of the past and forge
a new relationship based on peace and
cooperation. |
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source:
wikipedia |
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Epirus today |
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Parga: The town of Parga is about 50 km south of Igoumenitsa on the shore of the Ionian
sea, opposite the islands Paxoi and Antipaxoi. Parga rises like an
amphitheatre up the slopes surrounding the small secluded bay. The small
harbour and the boulevard with a lot of restaurants, taverns, bars and
cafes whose chairs and tables fill the pavement, the narrow alleyways
without car traffic give Parga it's own intimate atmosphere. A string of
small rocky islands protects the bay. The largest island has a whitewashed
chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, another chapel dedicated to Saint
Nicholas, and a small fort built by the French in 1808. You can swim from
the beach here or in the smaller bay along the shore to the east. Parga
today has about 2.500 inhabitants. The surrounding area is planted with
olive, orange, lemon, mandarin and other fruit trees, which cover all the
other hills around.
The
olive tree dominates as you may well have noticed the surrounding area. No
wonder because there are about a hundred thousand olive trees in Parga.
The trees are much higher here than in other parts of Greece because
nobody trimmed them during the Turkish occupation. The trade in olives and
olive-oil is except from the tourism the main source of income.
Preveza: The
Prefecture of Preveza is in the southern part of the District of Epirus.
The capital is the city of Preveza. It
covers an area of 1036 km2 and to the west is bordered by the sea.
 The
land is in part mountainous, with its highest peak Mount Xerobouni (1607
km) and in part plain, with two rivers, the Aheron and the Louros, which
create the artificial Lake Louros, in the northern part of the region. In
the city of Preveza there are therapeutic springs for hydrotherapy, with
extensive curative properties.Its
agricultural products are citrus fruits, legumes, vegetables, corn, rice
and cotton. Its industry processes fruits and fruit juices.
The Prefecture of Preveza is an interesting area, with historical remains
from ancient times.
The archeological sites of Nikopoli, Kassopi and Necromandio
are places of great interest for visitors. It also has some well-known touristy
sites, which attract many visitors, who can find satisfactory tourist
accommodations. |
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Epirus hotels Visit this page to find more about
Epirus hotels
or, if you like me to assist you with
your choice, please
send me an e-mail with your questions and enquiries. I will be glad to reply and
assist you, wherever I possibly can. |
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The
north western part of Greece with an extensive coast line starting from
the borders with Albania and ending to the Gulf of Amvrakia (Amvrakikos
kolpos).
