Eleftherochori
Eleftherochori, the castle of the notorious Ali Pasha of Ioannina
In the environs of the abandoned village of Eleftherochori in the northeast of Paramythia, at the Eleftherochori Pass, one of the few passes between the inaccessible mountain ranges of eastern Thesprotia, the first traces of habitation date back to the Palaeolithic period. During the construction of the Egnatia Motorway, important Palaeolithic open-air sites (100,000-10,000 before present) were uncovered. They yielded an extremely large number of stone artefacts, primarily made of flint. The area of Eleftherochori is the largest site of Palaeolithic activity investigated to date, not only in Greece but in the whole of the Balkans. The remains of an Early Christian settlement and a kiln of the 5th-6th century were also uncovered during the construction of the motorway.
Ali Pasha built a strong castle in the area as part of his efforts to control the Souliotes, who had formed a common front against him with the local Muslim Albanian beys in the early 19th century. He had a customs house and a pest house for the treatment of the plague built on the lands of the Pashalik of Ioannina. The remains of the two buildings can be seen today on a low plateau of Mount Chandakomeno, below the small church of the Prophet Elijah, south of the castle.
Monuments - Antiquities
Castle of Eleftherochori
The small castle stands on the top of the steep hill, 720 m above sea level, opposite the village of Eleftherochori, north of the Egnatia Motorway. It has a simple rectangular plan, and its small size (41 x 29 m) makes it more like a fortified house. The south side of the high fortified enceinte, on the side of the Eleftherochori Pass, is reinforced by a strong semicircular bastion. Inside the castle, buildings for the garrison, a cistern and storehouses are preserved today.
Ai-Lias fountain complex
The complex is located on the Paramythia–Agia Kyriaki provincial road and is still used by the local shepherds. It consists of a rectangular fountain with a striking ogee arch on the façade. The stone inscription with the date 1888 on the drum of the arch probably refers to the year of its construction. On the west side is a long wall of rubble masonry with two stone spouts for watering animals and washing clothes. There is a stone templon between the two parts of the fountain.
Church of the Taxiarchs (Archangels), Petousi
A short distance northwest of the Eleftherochori Pass is the small community of Petousi, where the church of the Taxiarches is preserved, built in 1741, according to the brick inscription on the dome of the monument. It belongs to the type of three-aisled domed basilica, with a semicircular apse on the east and an entrance on the north.
