Historical transhumance routes in Southwestern Macedonia: The case of Vlasti and Namata

Animal husbandry was highly developed in the mountainous settlements of Southwestern Macedonia (regions of Grevena and Voion) and supported an important part of the local economy. Because of the geomorphological and climatic conditions of those regions, the development of this activity resulted in the seasonal movement of people with their livestock to fixed winter pastures, where the climate is warmer during the winter. In this paper, the historical transhumance routes from the villages Blatsi (Vlasti) and Pipilista (Namata) on Siniatsiko mountain to the lowlands of Thessaly and Central Macedonia are examined, as well as the corresponding geographical dissemination, for the time period of the first half of the 20th century.