GRAMMOS AND THE VILLAGES OF KONITSA (Angelos Sinanis) - book in greek

The war events of a single decade (only)—most notably the drama of Grammos in 1949, as well as the legend of Pindus in 1940—are deeply rooted in collective memory and are widely known. What remains, however, are the peaceful activities of centuries past, carried out by the people of these same lands of Grammos. It was a period of contribution—of works and cultural offering to Balkan civilization—which came to an end precisely just before the outbreak of the aforementioned, now “well-known,” events.

For it was here, in Grammos, that the following long-lasting phenomenon appeared, as we have said: the master-builder villages of Konitsa form a link in a chain of builder villages in Northern Pindus, around the broader mountainous massif of Grammos. It should be noted that on the plateaus of Grammos, pastoral life predominated, led by wealthy Vlach chieftain-herdsmen, with their capital at Grammosta (today Grammos), while lower down, all around its slopes, lay the master-builder villages—some of the oldest of which reached as far as the fringes of Byzantium.
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(FROM THE PRESENTATION ON THE BOOK’S BACK COVER)