Region

History

In antiquity, Thesprotia was inhabited by the ancient Greek tribe of Thesprotians and was bordered by the neighboring regions of Molossia to the north and Chaonia to the east. Thesprotia became part of the Epirote League before it was annexed by Rome where it became part of the Roman province of Epirus. After the fragmentation of the Roman Empire into East and West, Thesprotia, along with the rest of the region, became part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, until its fall to the Ottomans. The territory of Thesprotia remained under Ottoman rule until 1913, when it was annnexed by the Greek state after the First Balkan War. Until 1937, when the separate prefecture of Thesprotia was established, the area was part of the Ioannina Prefecture.

The most famous nekromanteion (or nekyomanteion), or oracle of the dead, of the ancient Greek world lies near the northwest shores of the Acherousian Lake, where Acheron and Kokytos, the rivers of Hades, meet. Ancient literary sources describe the Acherousian Lake as the place where the dead began their descent to Hades, and associate Ephyra, the Epirote city located further north, with the ancient cult of the god of death. The nekromanteion attracted people wishing to meet the souls of the dead, as these were able to foresee the future after having left their body. Homer provides the earliest reference to the nekromanteion of Acheron in his Odyssey, when Circe advises Ulysses to meet Teiresias, the blind seer, in the underworld in order to get an oracle for his return to Ithaka (k, 488, etc). Homer also gives a vivid account of the mortal Odysseus’s descent to Hades (l, 24, et.c.). The resemblance between the setting described by Homer and the site of the nekromanteion is astonishing, a fact also noted almost one thousand years later by Pausanias, who argues that Homer had visited this area (1.17.5). Other Greek heroes also attempted the descent into Hades: Orpheus seeking to bring back his beloved Eurydice, Hercules in his search for Cerberus, the tree-headed dog guarding the exit from Hades, whom King Eristheas had asked for, and Theseus with Peirithos in order to seize Persephone.

Three Mycenaean children’s graves (fourteenth-thirteenth centuries BC) with a small number of grave gifts are the earliest traces of activity on the hill, where the nekromanteion was established. Pottery sherds and fragments of terracotta figurines from the west foot of the hill dating up to the mid-seventh century BC indicate that a sanctuary dedicated to the Earth goddess was later founded in this area. The remains of the actual nekromanteion date from the Hellenistic period. These comprise the sanctuary’s main building, erected in the early Hellenistic period (late fourth-early third century BC), and an annex of the late third century BC, which consisted of a central courtyard surrounded by rooms and warehouses. The sanctuary operated in this form continuously for approximately two centuries, but was burnt down and ceased to function after the Roman conquest of Macedonia in 167 BC. The sanctuary’s courtyard was occupied once again in the first century, when Roman settlers arrived in the plain of Acheron. The convent of Agios Ioannis Prodromos and its cemetery were established over the ancient ruins in the early eighteenth century.

Excavated in 1958-1964 and 1976-1977 by the Archaeological Society at Athens, the nekromanteion of Acheron was the first sanctuary and oracle of the gods of the underworld to be brought to light.

Geography and climate

Thesprotia borders Albania to the north, the regional unit of Ioannina to the east and Preveza to the south. The Ionian Sea lies to the west. Much of the regional unit is mountainous. Most farmland is located in the valleys in the central, southern and the western part. Two of Thesprotia’s rivers are legendary: the Thyamis and the Acheron of Greek mythology, lined with reedbeds and plane trees.

Thesprotia’s coastal climate is Mediterranean. Cold winters of a semi-alpine climate dominate the eastern part and higher elevations.

Infrastructure

In 1996, construction began on motorway 2, officially called Egnatia Odos. The road, which links the Ionian coast at Igoumenitsa to Thessaloniki, was opened to traffic in 2009. Other important roads in Thesprotia include the Greek National Road 6 (Igoumenitsa – Ioannina – Larissa) and Greek National Road 18 (Filiates – Paramythia – Preveza).

In 2009, construction began for a new highway that will connect Igoumenitsa and Saranda, passing by Sagiada and Konispol.

The port of Igoumenitsa serves ferry routes to the islands of Corfu and Paxoi (includes Antipaxoi), as well as Italy.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesprotia,  http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=13721