HISTORY
The first historical facts on Papigo were presented in the books by P. Aravantinos (1856), where one can find extensive reports on the older settlements and autonomy of Papigo, and by Ioannis Lampridis (1889), who reported on the churches of Agios Vlassios-built in 912- and on the church of Paliouri-built in 980. The oldest written report on Papigo is found in a golden bull of Andronikos II of the year 1325 where the villages of Papigo, Elafotopos and Ano Pedina, are mentioned. During the 14th century, Papigo was an autonomous region and was one of the autonomous countries of the medieval Ipiros.
The "Country of Papigo", played an important role in the grapples of the Arcbishop of Ioannina, due to its strategic place and natural fortification. During these difficult times the local conflicts of feudal lords, the raids of Albanians, the descent of the Serbs and the first spread of the Turks were destroying Ipiros. The Turkish conquest found Papigo with a regime of a faddish military and administrative semi-autonomy. After 1430, the Turks in order to ensure dominance in the mountainous regions applied a policy of concession of privileges in communities or teams of communities that capitulated with them. Thus, up to the 17th century the entire Zagori constituted a self-governed federal region named "Kinon" or "Vilaeti of Zagori''. According to these privileges, Zagori was allocated autonomy and self-government with a superior ruler, the Vekili of Zagori, and had complete freedom in the implementation of religious duties. These privileges were maintained up to 1868 when they were suppressed.
After 1868, when the privileges are suppressed, the region began to be infested by gangs of robbers, something which had consequences both on the economic life and on the manpower given that this situation made most families of sovereigns, who were the main objective of robbers, leave Zagori. This period lasted until 1913, when the villages of Zagori and Papigo were released from the Turkish domination.
The contribution of the residents of the village was important during the World War II, when many lost their lives.
ARCHITECTURE
Papigo has been an organised settlement since the late 16th century, when all the residents of the nearby settlements (Kalivia, Nifitsa, Pogdora, Klinovo, Lipsesi, Agia Kiriaki, Agia Paraskevi) moved to Big Papigo, which, according to Lampridis, had 230 families. The settlements of both Big and Small Papigo adopt the arrangement followed by all the settlements of Zagori; They are organised round a centre, called Mesohori, which has a square, with a platan and around this square all the public services are gathered: the school, the church, the cafe and the fountain.
Round Mesohori houses of defensive style, dense layout, tall yard walls and robust wooden gates are built.
A complex system of cobbled roads and paths begins from Mesohori reaching the work places: fields, the pasture lands, the forests, even the nearby settlements.Based on their architecture the houses of Zagori are organised in four periods:
1600 - 1700. Small rectangular buildings with elevated ground floor, low internal spaces, doors and small vaulted windows. The hearth was found in the middle of the building and the scale is exterior.
1700 - 1750. The buildings were taller than those of the previous period with bigger windows and internal balcony. Each floor had four rooms, kitchen, living room (mantzato) and reception room (ontas).
1750 - 1850. The buildings were even taller and more comfortable, with wooden rooms, where there was a wardrobe. The ceilings and reception rooms were decorated with splendid murals.
1850 - 1880. Big two or even three-storied houses were built with big reception rooms, comfortable living rooms and auxiliary spaces, cellars and food deposits (mpimtses), with splendid decor both on the ceilings and walls.
Most of the old houses of Papigo were built during the last two periods. The craftsmen that built the houses were mainly from the villages of Konitsa and Tzoumerka and they were organised in guilds (crowds). The painters that decorated the walls were mainly from the village Hionades of Konitsa.
In most villages of Zagori and in many villages of Papigo, a large number of houses with folk murals in their interior are preserved up to our days.
NATURE
Flora
In the Alpine plateaux in Vikos and in the area surrounding Papigo, more than 1700 species and subspecies of flora have been recorded. Five endemic types have been discovered that cannot be found anywhere elsewhere in the world. These are the following: silene intonsa, saxifraga biflora epirotica, calium sacrorum, hieracium dasycrapedum and hieracium necopium.
Particularly rare and protected types in Vikos and in the wider region of the woodland are the viola (viola) with 12 types, the geranium (geranium) with 18 types, the vernicle (veronica) with 16 types, the canterbury bell (campanula) with 14 types, the sedo (sedum) with 14 types and the saxifraga with 13 types.
The Lilly (lillium - chalkedonicum and heldraigchi) with its red colour, the lilly (martagon) with its pink colour and the white lilly (candidum), are a unique chromatic presence in the woodland.
The rare flora is supplemented by ramonta the Serbian (ramoda serbica) with its pink - purple colours, iris the Germaninc of blue colour, and the white narcissus (narcissus poeticus) as well as the many types of the rare orhchid (ophrys sphegodes, orchis simian, dactyloriza sambucina).
Fauna
The fauna of the region is rich too. It should be noted here that almost all the rare birds and mammals of the mountains that face the dander of extinction are hosted in the woodland surrounding Papigo. It is estimated that in the wider region 133 species of birds, 24 species of mammals, 10 species of amphibians and 21 species of reptiles live.
In the region there are also many species of birds: the vasilaetos (aquila heliaca), the hrisaetos (aquila chrysaetos), the asproparis (neophron percnopterus), the fidaetos (circaetus gallicus), the maurotsiklitara (dryocopus Martius), the rock partridge (alectoris graeca), the wood pigeon (columba palumbus), the screech owl (otus scops), the vounostahara (arus melba), the hionada (eremophila alpestris), the martin (ptynoprogne rupestris), the maurolemis (saxicola tortouata), the blackbird (turbus merula), etc. Most bird species are rare and thus protected with the Directive 85/411/EEO of the European Union.
There is also a big variety of mammals that live in the area: the hedgehog (erinaceus concolov), the wild goat (rupicapra rupicapra), the hare (lepus capensis), the squirrel (sciupus vulgaris lilaeus), the weasel (mustela nivalis), the marten (Marches foina), the badger (meles meles), the wolf (canis lupus), the fox (vulpes vulpes), the bear (ursus arctos), the wildcat (felis sylvestris) and the roe deer (capreolis capreolis).
Finally one can find amphibians like the triton (triturus alpestris and cristatus), the salamander (salamandra salamandra), the bullfrog (rana temporaria) and the colour toad (bufo bufo).
Source: www.papigo.gr