Anogeio

Anogeio (Greek: Ανώγειο, "High-land") is a village and a former municipality in the Preveza regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ziros, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 1,539 (2001). The seat of the municipality was in Gorgomylos. Anogeio village (population 118, elevation 1200 m) is located on the western slopes of Xerovouni, in the Pindus mountains of Epirus. It has a pleasant dry climate, which is predominantly influenced by its high altitude and distance from the sea.

History

The 19th and 20th Century history of the settlement is well documented. Its economy was almost exclusively based on sheep herding. The transhumant way of life was fairly typical of the rural populations of the Pindus range. Shepherds would spend the summer months in the village and relocate to lower pastures in the winter. The distant origins of the village are more obscure, however it is believed to have been founded in the period following the failed 1611 uprising against the Ottomans in Epirus led by Dionysius the Philosopher of Ioannina. The remote location of the village would have enabled tax evaders, revolutionaries and other outcasts to avoid the Ottoman authorities. This situation was fairly typical in the Balkan mountains during the 17th-20th centuries (see klephts).