Zakynthos, Greece; Morbidity and Outcomes of Foreign Travellers in Zakynthos Island, Greece: A Retrospective Study

From plos.org journal, April 11, 2014

Authors: Eleni Plessa, Giannoula S. Tansarli, Dimitrios Xanthopoulos, Matthew E. Falagas

(Data from foreign travellers visiting Zakynthos, in the period May 1 to October 30, 2012).

Results

"Two thousand six hundred and eighty-eight patients were included in the study. The mean age (±SD) of the patients whom the age was recorded was 29.6 (±18.3) and 51.5% of them were from 18 to 40 years old. Disorders of the respiratory tract (32.7%), dermatologic conditions (21.1%), musculoskeletal injuries (16.4%), and gastrointestinal disorders (16.3%) were the four most prevalent clinical categories among patients. Ear disorder was the most common syndromic description (14.5%) among which 81.2% were ear infections; otitis externa and otitis media were diagnosed in 8.5% and 3.3% patients in total. The most common specific diagnosis was gastroenteritis (14.3%). Insect bite and sunburn were the most common diagnosis (6.5% and 3.8%, respectively) among patients with a dermatologic condition. Ear infection was the most common diagnosis in pediatric patients".

Vitsa Steps, 150th Anniversary, 1868 -2018; Zagori, Epirus; Vikos Gorge; Πέτρινη Σκάλα Βίτσας - 150η επέτειος

See note 3, above, from Ioannis Nikolaidis' Monograph on Vitsa (1939; page 103), referring to the inscription on a plaque, stating that the construction of the steps (skala) in 1868 cost 4,500 grosia (Ottoman currency).

With thanks to the great Vitsa benefactors,  Alexios and Angeliki Papazoglou.
I have read, in To Zagori Mas, issue 459 (September 2016, page 9), that Angeliki made more than 25,000 grosia available for the construction of the stone steps along the route of the original path - but the author appears to suggest that this donation was made in 1872.

In his monograph on Vitsa (1939), Ioannis Nikolaidis also records the following information (page 156) and gives a date of 9 June 1861 concerning a different skala, of 'Kyralexina', from Aghios Nikolaos church down to the Voidomatis River:

There was  almost certainly a path joining the villages of Dilofo and Vitsa,

which led across the riverbed (when dry) and the bridge of Misios (constructed 1748)
 long before the elaborate and beautiful stone skala or mule-track and pedestrian steps were constructed.

See Ioannis Lambridis, Zagoriaka, Part 1, Athens, 1889 (written 1886), page 15, on the path through the gorge, by way of the Misios Bridge, between Kato Vitsa and Koukouli:

"Η Σκάλα κατασκευάστηκε το 1868"

About Vitsa, from The Land Beyond

Πέτρινη Σκάλα Βίτσας

School of Weaving in Ioannina: