Ioannina, the provincial capital, is at the southern point of the triangle, while the south-western side is formed by Mount Mitsikeli (1,810m).

Zagori is an area of great natural beauty, with striking geology and two National Parks, one including the river Aoos and the Vikos Gorge, the other around Valia Kalda, to the east of the imposing snow-capped Mt Tymphe.

The Molossian royal house ruled Epirus from the ancient town of "Molossis" which was located near modern Konitsa, in the northern boundary of Zagori, where the rivers Voidomatis, Aoös and Sarantaporos come together.

Molossus, their eponymous ancestor, was said to have been born of a union between Neoptolemus (son of Achilles ) and Andromache (the wife of Hector of Troy).

[8] During the 9th–4th centuries B.C., a small Molossian settlement existed between Monodendri and Vitsa, including stone houses and two cemeteries which have yielded important findings.

In the 14th century, when various Albanian clans made incursions into Epirus, Zagori was the source of soldiers that served in the Ioannina garrison.

[11] As a result of the campaigns of Andronikos III Paleologos in 1337, the Despotate of Epirus and, therefore, Zagori along with Ioannina and the surrounding region came again briefly under Byzantine rule.

Zagori (which then only consisted of 14 villages) "bowed the knee", which meant in practice that there were obligations between delegations of the two sides and a sum in tax was agreed upon in exchange for very considerable privileges: autonomy, administrative independence, and a ban on Turks crossing the borders into the area.

[16] Due to the thriving trade activities of the Zagorisian diaspora several instances of donations were recorded: bridges, cobblestones, fountains, schools, temples and monasteries and social charity.

Christian Orthodox Albanians have settled in at least 12 Zagori villages,[24] including Tristeno, Arísti, Megalo Papingo, Anthrakitis, Asprangeloi, Kavallari, Kipi, Leptokarya, Monodendri, Tsepelovo, Vitsa, Vradeto and possibly Kapesovo.

[27] Arvanites and Roma were considered metoikoi (literary: foreigners) and comprised the lower social class in the region and lived at the outskirts of the villages without civil and property rights in Zagori politics,[28] and were assimilated.

The Koinon of the Zagorisians was reformalised by a treaty signed in 1670, under which Zagori enjoyed considerable privileges called Surutia, which were only rescinded fully by the Sultan in 1868.

[citation needed] This solution suited the conquerors and the conquered, as it added statutory rules to the geographical factors which had made Zagori a natural refuge.

Its economy flourished thanks to expatriate merchants active in Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Constantinople, who through remittances to their families and numerous benefactions contributed to the relative prosperity Zagori enjoyed during the period of Turkish rule.

[30] The growing prosperity, aided by privileges obtained by Phanariotes of Zagorisian descent and benefactions from expatriates, allowed the building of several schools, some still surviving, for example the Common School of Greek Studies (Greek: Κοινή Σχολή Ελληνικών Μαθημάτων) in Monodendri built by the brothers Manthos and Georgios Rizaris (1835).

The brothers also funded the building of the Rizareios Ecclesiastical School in Athens (1844), while Zagori itself was under full Ottoman rule.

The brothers Ioannis and Demetrios Anagnostopoulos from Dilofo founded the Anagnostopouleios in their home village and contributed to the expenses for the Zosimaia School in Ioannina.

Several prominent scholars of the Greek Enlightenment, such as Neofytos Doukas, Georgios Gennadios and Athanasios Psalidas sought refuge here, after the Sultan's army destroyed Ioannina in 1820.

Alexis Noutsos from Kapesovo, a member of the Philike Hetairia, was in command of the force opposing Ismael Pasha.

Ismael Pasha removed most privileges other than the right to appoint a local governor (Vekylis), whose powers however became nominal.

Following the union with Greece after the Balkan Wars, the area suffered a demographic decline partly due to emigration to Greek urban centres.

This recognition highlights its significance in the shared heritage of Byzantine and Ottoman architecture within the broader Balkan region.

Historically, all the villages of the Zagori region were connected by a system of paths or small roads and they functioned more like a single entity rather than as separate communities.

In most villages the main church consists of a sizeable basilica built of stone with a wooden roof covered by slate.

Houses until the 18th century were simple rectangular dwellings, often with only a ground floor and with ancillary areas in the basement used as stables.

The main house is built with walls up to a meter thick that may have an internal sand compartment for insulation against the cold.

The mantzato is the main room for the winter months with a fireplace, a "tavla" (table) and seating areas that can be used as beds, called "basia".

More than 160 arched bridges were built in the greater area of Zagori, many of which still stand helping travelers to cross the numerous rivers and streams of the region.

In the middle of its main part, far from road access or villages, it is traversed by Megas Lakkos, an equally deep secondary gorge.

The Vikos Gorge is also a site of major scientific interest, because it is in an almost pristine natural condition, untouched by human activity.