On “Common Ground, we met today with the listeners of Voice of Greece in Viniani, Evrytania. It is a beautiful settlement perched on the mountain slopes north–northeast of Lake Kremasta, west of the Megdovas (or Tavropos) River, which flows into the artificial lake and shapes a landscape of striking beauty, beloved by travelers.
For older generations, Viniani is the historic village that linked its name with some of the most glorious moments of the Greek Resistance and hosted the “Government of the Mountain” during the Occupation. In 1966, however, after a devastating earthquake, the old village was abandoned and the present-day settlement was built a few kilometers to the southwest.
Speaking to us about the village, its history, its present and past, as well as the wave of migration that led dozens of its residents abroad in previous decades, were Pantelis Mandis, President of Viniani; Kostas Monias, songwriter and performer; Giorgos Mandis, a member of the Greek diaspora in Charlotte, USA; and Ilias Provopoulos, author of one of the best-known books written on the history of Viniani and the National Resistance in the region.