"Pano Soudena" Ano Pedhina by mindcrime

Ano Pedhina Travel Guide: 7 reviews and 20 photos

Ano Pedina is another village that belongs to Central Zagori, located 35km NE from Ioannina. There is a small valley with one of the most fertile plains of the area, actually the valley is between the two brother villages Kato Pedina and Ano Pedina. We first visited Kato Pedina which is much smaller, after that we drunk a coffee at Elafotopos village and then we approached Ano Pedina that has more things to offer for the visitor. Some important sights to visit is the monastery of Evagelistria, the church of Ayios Dimitrios and the church of Ayia Paraskevi, all of them were built after the second half of the 18th century. All the houses were/are/will built from stone and wood, materials of the area, so this gives a unique and picturesque feeling to all the villages of Zagori.

Ano Pedina is one of the oldest villages of the area (the oldest written reference about it is from 1361!) and according to the tradition inhabitants of the village immigrated to Kalavrita during the 15th century. The village was very wealthy during 18th and 19th century with many famous local people that were popular for their literature and intellectual studies like the historian Ioannis Lampridis (he wrote “Ipirotika Meletimata” one of the important books about Epirus history) and the professor and priest Neofitos Doukas. The men of the village started to immigrate to other Balkan countries and Central Europe and later to Egypt.

The village was kind of abandoned for many years (like most of the Zagori villages) but the last decade many new mansions were built by people that had their roots here and chosen to leave the stress way of living in the big cities and came here. We stayed till late to watch a concert at the main square but we didn’t overnight. We will return during the winter though because there are some small hotels with many available rooms. You have to book ahead though if you plan to visit any of the villages at Zagori area in high season (Christmas, easter, 15th august etc). Some of the hotels are: Primoula (www.primoula.gr, tel:2653071133), To Spiti Tou Oresti (www.orestishouse.gr, tel:2653071202), Porfyron (www.porfyron.com, tel:2653071579).

The old name of the village was Pano Soudena. Soudena is a slav word that means “cold place” probably because of the cold ghyll that is near the village. The village is up at about 900metres and it is built between 5 hills. The fertile plain usually covered by fog early in the morning used to house huge crops of vineyards, lentils, corn and wheat.

Last visit to Ano Pedhina: Aug 2009
Intro Updated Aug 21, 2009
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Reviews (7)

ready for the concert at Ano Pedhina - Ano Pedhina

concerts!! Nightlife (1)

Believe it or not you might catch a good concert up here! The night we were there some greek singers (Peridis and... more travel advice

trecking, walking, car Sports & Outdoors (1)

Even if you are not really into extreme trecking there are many nice paths from the village that can keep you busy for... more travel advice

better call it Sotiria! Restaurants (1)

This nice tavern officially called Soudena (like the old name of the village) but everyone knows it as Sotiria which is... more travel advice

how to go there Transportation (1)

The village is located about 35km away from Ioannina (which is 485 km away from Athens). We drove towards Kalpaki on... more travel advice

Things to Do (3)
See All walk around the village

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Comments (9)

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hunterV Nov 10, 2009 at 10:42 AM

Hello, Konstantinos! It looks like a nice place to visit... ><><><><><><><><><><><
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oriettaIT Aug 29, 2009 at 12:25 AM

Sound like a lovely place to visit and relax Thanks for sharing. Ciao
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nicolaitan Aug 23, 2009 at 1:15 PM

nice page on a great little village. that restaurant looks so good, love the old gramaphone. i do wonder about how hard it is to walk on those cobbled streets. nice history - easy to see why it attracted the rich and famous.
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angiebabe Aug 23, 2009 at 12:49 PM

Ive always enjoyed visiting mountain villages - this looks a good one to visit too - thanks for sharing your visit Kon
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janetanne Aug 21, 2009 at 2:11 PM

Great new page Kostandinos of a place I have always wanted to visit but just never had time to stop. I've been to Ioannina many times, usually alone, and so never really got into the villages. I like the way you wrote the intro with the hotel info.
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nickandchris Aug 21, 2009 at 7:22 AM

Must get to Zagori before too long.The concert sounds wonderful, despite the rain.
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kat-m Aug 21, 2009 at 4:45 AM

I think I would like the ladies pies and also her stories!
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ozalp Aug 21, 2009 at 12:18 AM

I've only read the restaurant tip and even I just finished my breakfast, I feel hungry. I must taste this lamb and cheese pie! BTW, is cheese pie the plate in the middle on 2nd photo?
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Kuznetsov_Sergey Aug 20, 2009 at 11:01 AM

A very nice page about a place I never heard about. The monastery of Evagelistria and other churches are very attractive there. Thanks Konstantinos for sharing!