UNESCO adds Zagorochoria to World Heritage List
A cluster of traditional, picturesque villages on Mount Pindos in northwestern Greece, the Zagorochoria (or villages of Zagori), has been inducted onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the World Heritage Committee has announced during its 45th session, in Riyadh.
“It is the first time that a cultural area of Greece that comprises an outstanding example of our modern cultural heritage is listed,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said, hailing the decision.
“All Greek listings so far are related to ancient Greece or Byzantium,” she added.
Mendoni said that UNESCO “recognized the outstanding ecumenical value of the Zagori architecture, as an excellent example of survival and mutual influence of the Byzantine and Ottoman architecture. It recognized the authenticity and integrity of the area as key ingredients in order to be included on the World Heritage List.”
She also thanked everyone who helped in the effort, adding that the listing “is an invitation and expression of obligation towards Greece to keep this heritage intact.”
In its description of the Mount Pindos villages, UNESCO said:
“Located in a remote rural landscape in northwestern Greece, small stone villages known as Zagorochoria extend along the western slopes of the northern part of the Pindus mountain range. These traditional villages, typically organized around a central square containing a plane tree and surrounded by sacred forests maintained by local communities, showcase a traditional architecture adapted to the mountain topography. A network of stone-arched bridges, stone cobbled paths, and stone staircases linking the villages formed a system that served as a political and social unit connecting the communities of the Voidomatis River basin.”
The extended session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee is taking place in Saudi Arabia from September 10 to 25. [AMNA]
