May in Zagori, and In Memoriam Angeliki Papazoglou

Aghios Nikolaos, May 20 (Annual Memorial Service for Benefactress Angeliki Papazaoglou, see below)

Very good speeches after the Memorial Service this morning by the President of the Papazoglou Foundation

 and by the Mayor of Central Zagori. The Papazoglou Bequest funded substantial public works over the years, paid for from the interest on shares in the National Bank of Greece. According to Ioannis Nikolaidis (1939), the bequest  paid for the salary of the headmaster of the village school, of two priests, a doctor, a pharmacist, taxes of the poor and many other things. Sadly, the Foundation has had little room for manoeuvre since the beginning of the economic crisis, as the National Bank pays next-to-no-interest on the bequest funds administered by the Papazoglou Foundation. The Mayor of Central Zagori reported that his funds had been cut by 80%. He urged people to cooperate and to work together for the common good as they did in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Important documentary (ET3) on the Zagori, (in Greek) and the need for greater environmental protection. The first part looks at the destruction caused by the building of unnecessary roads, the bulldozing and looting of stone slabs from the "rock forest" at Oxia for cheap building materials.

See my own photos of the Oxia "Rock Forest".

Map of Zagori villages