Mount Zalongo () is a small bare mountain of Greece with an altitude of 462 meters. It is located north of

Preveza Preveza (, ) is a city in the region of Epirus (region), Epirus, northwestern Greece, located on the northern peninsula of the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the Preveza (regional unit), regional unit of Preveza, which is the s ...

, above the village of Kamarina, and belongs to the Kasopaian mountains in

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

. The heavily grazed area includes a limited forest zone, steep cliffs and arable land. The area below the historical monument has been reforested with trachea pines (''

Pinus brutia ''Pinus brutia'', commonly known as the Turkish pine and Calabrian pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey, but certain varieties are naturalized as far east as Afghanistan. It is ...

'') while scattered individuals of mossy oak also grow (''

Quercus pubescens ''Quercus pubescens'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms ''virgiliana''), commonly known as the downy oak, pubescent oak or Italian oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. It ...

'') cypress tree (''

Cupressus sempervirens ''Cupressus sempervirens'', the Mediterranean cypress (also known as Italian cypress, Tuscan cypress, Persian cypress, or pencil pine), is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Iran. While some studies show it ha ...

'') and macroscale oak (''

Quercus macrolepis ''Quercus ithaburensis'' subsp. ''macrolepis'', the Valonia oak, is a subspecies of ''Quercus ithaburensis'', a member of the beech family, Fagaceae. It may also be treated as a separate species, ''Quercus macrolepis''. Taxonomy The Valonia o ...

''). Regarding the herbaceous flora, two endemic species of Greece have been mentioned ('' Galium advenum'') and the Balkan ('' Saxifraga rotundifolia'') flora respectively. The name of the mountain was associated with the "

Dance of Zalongo Dance of Zalongo , ''Horos tou Zalongou'') refers to the mass suicide of Souliotes, Souliote women and their children that is said to have occurred in the aftermath of the Souliote War (1803), invasion of Ottoman troops on Souli on December 16, 18 ...

" in 1803, when a group of Souliots with their children decided to die free rather than fall into the hands of the Ottoman Albanian troops of

Ali Pasha of Ioannina Ali Pasha (1740 – 24 January 1822), commonly known as Ali Pasha of Yanina or Ali Pasha of Tepelena, was an Albanian ruler who served as Ottoman pasha of the Pashalik of Yanina, a large part of western Rumelia. Under his rule, it acquired a ...

. At the western end of the Zalongo mountain plateau, the largest statue in Greece was erected during 1950–1961, with the title Monument of Zalongo, designed by the sculptor George Zongolopoulos.Δ.Κοντελεντζίδου, Γιώργος Ζογγολόπουλος. Σύγχρονοι Έλληνες εικαστικοί (2009) 37-39.

Sources

* ''Μεγάλη Ελληνική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Δρανδάκη'', τ.ΙΑ΄, σ.901.

References

{{coord, 39, 8, 45, N, 20, 41, 23, E, display=title Mountains of Epirus (region) Preveza

See also

Sources

References