Craterellus cornucopioides

Craterellus cornucopioides, or horn of plenty, is an edible mushroom. It can also be known as the black chanterelle, black trumpet, trompette de la mort (French) or trumpet of the dead. One the many autumn mushrooms in the Zagori region in Greece

Craterellus cornucopioides, or horn of plenty, is an edible mushroom. It can also be known as the black chanterelle, black trumpet, trompette de la mort (French) or trumpet of the dead. The Cornucopia, in Greek mythology, referred to the magnificent horn of the nymph…

Traditional Zagori pies

Traditional pies in the Zagori region of Epirus, Greece

More than what meets the eye… the best traditional pies around the region of the Zagorochoria at “Takis” coffee stop in Aspraggeloi valley! On your way to central Zagori as you drive from Ioannina city and just before the village of Aspraggeloi on the…

Natural beauties of Greece

Holy Monastery of Iviron or Iveron, an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece

Greece is a very diverse land full of surprises. Most of Greece consists of mountains, making our country one of the most mountainous in Europe. Mount Olympus, the mythical abode of the Greek Gods, culminates at Mytikas peak 2,917 m (9,570 ft), the highest in…

Amanita caesarea

Fresh Amanita Caesarea in a forest in the Zagori area in Ioannina

Amanita caesarea, commonly known in English as Caesar’s mushroom, is a highly regarded edible mushroom in the genus Amanita, native to Zagori, Greece. This mushroom was a favorite of early rulers of the Roman Empire hence it’s name Caesarea. It was known to and valued…

Autumn mushrooms

Autumn mushrooms, boletus aereus and amanita caesarea, in Zagori

Autumn is the best time to go hunting for mushrooms. The past few weeks were quite rainy for the season so when the temperature rose a bit and the sun shone the magic world of the fungi made it’s glorious appearance in the forests…

Blackberries

Blackberry picking season in the mountains of Epirus

Greek: βατόμουρα A purply black-coloured berry comprising many individual seed-containing fruits surrounding a cone-shaped core. Wonderfully juicy, they’re good raw (straight from the hedge!) or cooked and are bursting with vitamin C. Wild, they’re often called brambles meaning any impenetrable scrub. Sometimes called the “Cabernet…

Cleaning the kilims in a fulling mill

Kilim drying after being through a fulling mill for cleaning in the Zagori region, Pindus, Greece

Every year when the weather gets warmer and the rain stops, sort of that is, we take the kilims to the “fulling mill” to get them cleaned and revived. There are a couple in Kalpaki town, only a few kilometres from Central Zagori in…

Trekking expedition in Zagori

Trekking expedition in Zagori

Trekking expedition 1-8 August, 2014 Get to know the the Zagori region and Mt. Tymfi in Pindus, Epirus. Walk through the unique landscape of the National Park of Vikos – Aoos through the old stone treks and paths of Zagori and the broader mountain range…

Boletus

The name is derived from the Latin term bōlētus 'mushroom' from the Ancient Greek "βωλίτης", ultimately from bōlos/βώλος 'lump' or 'clod'. In Greece Boletus is also called "the king of mushrooms" - "βασιλομανίταρο".

The name is derived from the Latin term bōlētus ‘mushroom’ from the Ancient Greek “βωλίτης”, ultimately from bōlos/βώλος ‘lump’ or ‘clod’. In Greece Boletus is also called “the king of mushrooms” – “βασιλομανίταρο”. The fruit body has a large cap which on occasion can reach…

Neotinea tridentata

Neotinea tridentata favours grassy places, woodland, scrub and maquis of subalpine and alpine meadows of the National Park of Pindus as well as the broader Zagori region

Neotinea tridentata (three-toothed orchid) is a species of orchid found in Greece among other southern European countries. This orchid favours grassy places, woodland, scrub and maquis of sub-alpine and alpine meadows of the National Park of Pindus as well as the broader Zagori region…