Welcome to Pente Ekklisies
Get to know historic Osdina with its Byzantine churches
he village with the incomparable natural beauty and the hospitable inhabitants
Mountain tourism, swimming, hiking, camping / staying in nature
DiscoverDiscover
Pente Ekklisies
Pente Ekklisies is a small village of Thesprotia Prefecture/Ipiros. It is located near the border to Albania, about 38 kilometers away from Igoumenitsa and 60 kilometers away from Ioannina.
Near the village is the acropolis of the Byzantine city of Osdina with its beautifully restorated and UNESCO-protected old churches. The exploration of the area rewards the visitor. You find a landscape of unique beauty with green hillsides, the river Kalamas with its gorge, the numerous stone-paved pathways that were used for transportation of salt and other goods.
At present there is a sustained effort by the people of the village to keep these pathways clean and easily accessible to the visitors as a treasure of the national heritage.
The most important productive wealth of the village comes from the cultivation of olives. In earlier times, the olive fruit of the village reached as far as Constantinople.
During the Second World War German soldiers committed warcrimes against civilians also here. Some inhabitans of the village were shot to death. Others were burned alive above the village, close to the 18th century Monastery of Michla. This crime against humanity is known as “the Massacre of Michla”.
Individual tourists and small tourist groups can be hosted in the village. They may also rent a tent which they can put near the river where there is clean water and electricity, if they want to spend the night in the nature. In the village there is a tavern where you will enjoy dishes from the local cuisine.
Depending on the season you can go hiking in the mountains. Boat trips on Kalamas can be combined with swimming and camping on its banks. Based in the village you can also visit the surrounding area: the 'Chora of Thesprotia', archaeological sites, beaches with crystal clear waters, mountain settlements of impressive beauty.
Accommodation
For reservations and availability please call the President of the village Antonis Apostolou at (+30) 694 866 1821 or send an E-mail for inquiries to Magdalena Resta-Petersdorff at <m.resta-petersdorff@gmx.de>. Edited by the Cultural Association of Pente Ekklesies.
Activities
What you can do in the village
Swimming
Trekking
Enjoying lonely nature
Eating
Stay over night
Visit Ancient Sites
Gallery
Pictures from the village
History
Historical data about the village
Ancient times.
West of the present village of Pente Ecclesies, on the left bank of the river Kalama and on a hill are the ruins of Paliosdina or Paliochora. It is described as an ancient acropolis because of its walls on the eastern and southern sides and its natural fortification on the other sides. There is no evidence for the date of its construction and it is assumed that it was destroyed by the Romans in 167 BC. The wall was demolished and the inhabitants sold as slaves.
Byzantine Period.
During this period the walls were repaired and the inhabitants gathered in multi-storey dry-walled houses and the ancient sanctuaries were transformed into Christian temples, ten in all, four in the city. Houses were also built outside the citadel and two bridges connected the city with the temples outside it.
Destruction and abandonment of the village.
At the beginning of the 18th century the pressure and persecution of the Ottomans became more intense. Prosperous Osdina was forced to pay higher taxes, its inhabitants reacted and killed the tax collectors. Fearing reprisals, the inhabitants abandoned it and scattered to various villages in Thessaly.
Renaming of the village.
The village was also called Eleonas because of the many olive groves in the area and was renamed in 1927-28 to Pente Ekklisies because of the five churches that survived from the Byzantine era.
Massacre of Michla.
On 23 August 1944, 15 inhabitants of the village were murdered by German soldiers who were camped at the site of Mega Plai. Watching from above the Kalama River they saw partisans with whom they exchanged gunfire. Believing that the villagers had lied to them that there were no partisans in the village, they locked 8 inhabitants in a hut made of straw and burned them alive. The rest was murdered as they left. After the Germans had left, the inhabitants, observing from the village the smoke from the fire in the hut, carried the dead, some on mules and others on their backs, to the Monastery of Michla where they buried them in a makeshift grave behind the sanctuary. The Monument of Michla is located at the 54th kilometer of the Ioannina-Igoumenitsa old highway, an eternal tribute to the victims of the massacre.
Hiking routes on the mountain
The historical paths of Osdina were the only way of communication and transport of goods for many years. The beauty of the natural landscape is remarkable, as is the effort of the villagers to keep them clean and accessible to all those who want to hike in the mountains or spend the night in nature.
About Us
This website is sponsored by Respekt für Griechenland e.V. <https://respekt-für-griechenland.de>
Respekt für Griechenland e.V. (RfG) is a non-profit association based in Berlin. By private donations RfG supports projects in Pente Ekklisies as well as in two other victim communities (Kommeno, Lingiades), because Germany paid only minimal compensations for the massacres on the civilian population and other war crimes. For RfG, unlike the German government, the reparations issue is not settled and not closed.
Website: Fotos by Amar Bašić. Content-advice by Magdalena Resta-Petersdorff. Design, management and implementation by Yorgos Anagnostopoulos.