Metsovo

Metsovo (Greek: Μέτσοβο; Aromanian: Aminciu) is a town in Epirus on the mountains of Pindus in northern Greece, between Ioannina to the north and Meteora to the south. The largest centre of Vlach life in Greece, Metsovo is bypassed by GR-6 (Ioannina - Trikala) and also by Egnatia Odos Motorway.

Name

From medieval times till well into the 19th century, Metsovo is referred to in the various sources with the word Metzovo. From the end of the 18th century on, the literary form Messovon starts appearing in the sources.

Ottoman census records

In the Ottoman census records we see the word form Mcwh which is usually pronounced as Miçova. In the Vlach language Metsovo is called Aminʤu, a word formed by the preposition "a", meaning “to, into” and the word Minʤu.

Various names

From the word Minʤu derive the terms of ethnic origin Miʤanu-Miʤanə, meaning “Man from Metsovo – woman from Metsovo” as well as the adjectives miʤənescu - miʤəneascə, meaning “Metsovite – of Metsovo”, which are used today by the residents of Metsovo. Furthermore, the Vlach speaking part of the population, that does not know the word form Aminʤu, uses the name Meʤova.

Pindus

The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos) (Greek: Πίνδος) mountain range is located in northern Greece and southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 m (Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is often called the "spine of Greece". The mountain range stretches from near the Greek-Albanian borders in Northern Epirus, entering the Epirus region and Macedonia region in northern Greece down to the north of the Peloponnese. Geologically it constitutes an extension of the Dinaric Alps, which dominate the western region of the Balkan Peninsula. This vast complex of mountains, peaks, plateaus, valleys and gorges traverses the Greek mainland from the Northwest to the Southeast. Its length reaches almost 230 kilometers and its largest width is 70 kilometers.

Name

Historically, the name Pindos refers to the mountainous territory that separates the greater Epirus region from the regions of Macedonia and Thessaly.