Stone Roofs of Zagori

Zagori, in Epirus in north-western Greece, is a group of 46 stone villages known as the Zagorochoria. Their houses, churches and even courtyard gates are roofed with stone slabs, and in September 2023 UNESCO inscribed Zagori as a cultural landscape representative of traditional stone-built settlements.

Roof construction

Zagori roofs are covered with stone tiles of local limestone or sandstone. They are laid without cement and held in place only by the weight of the tiles above them, over strong timber structures. Heavy winter snow means the roofs need continual upkeep. Church roofs are usually timber, covered with slate, and courtyard gates have small stone roofs of their own. In the wider region, similar stone roofing is found across the Albanian border at Gjirokastër and in the Pelion district of Greece.

The houses

Houses are built of local stone, with walls up to a metre (3.3 ft) thick, some with a sand-filled compartment for insulation. Until the 18th century most were simple rectangular dwellings, often with only a ground floor and basement stables. During the 18th and 19th centuries they grew into more complex forms, up to the multi-storey mansions of wealthy families. Villages centre on a square (mesochori) with a large church, a plane tree and a fountain.

Bridges and churches

More than 160 arched stone bridges were built in the wider area, mostly in the 18th and 19th centuries, with one to three arches. Most churches date from the 17th and 18th centuries onward, and the main village church is usually a stone basilica.

Conservation

Because the slabs are dry-laid, maintenance means resetting slipped stones, replacing broken ones and repairing the timber beneath. Keeping these skills alive is essential to preserving the roofscape that underpins the UNESCO listing.