Monastery of Votsas

The Monastery of Votsas or Voutsas, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is located between the villages of Greveniti, Flambourari and Doliani of the Municipality of Zagori, between the wooded slope and the approximately 70 hectares of vineyard above the eastern bank of the river Varda, on the "basilostrata", which led to Constantinople. The Votsas Monastery was founded by Constantine IV Pogonatos (668-685) in the year 672. The monastery was destroyed during the conquest of Epirus by the Turks in 1430. It was burnt by the troops of Kara-Sinan Pasha, who was sent by Sultan Murat to enslave the then Frankish-occupied Epirus, while only the Catholic of the church was saved.