Skiadas

Skiadas (in Greek: Σκιαδάς) is a small mountain village in the Preveza Prefecture in the north-western Greece (500 meters above the sea level). It is currently under the management of the Louros municipality. It is built upon the mountain Baldenezi.

Skiadas took that name because according to the Greek mythology the Greek God of the dead, Hades, would sometimes come out of his underworld (which its supposed entrance is only a few miles away from Skiadas at the nearby Serziana village) to seek for some daily light. But because he was sensitive to sun light, he preferred to stay near Skiadas where sun doesn't shine before 11 AM and there's lots of shadow (because of a high mountain in front of the village). 'Skiadas' means "the shadow of Hades" (in Greek: Σκιά του Άδη).

During the Greek enslavement by the Turkish Empire, Skiadas and its surroundings villages have seen very little of the burden, as Skiadas is part of the Souli valley which resisted the Turkish rule for hundreds of years by brewing many local fighting heroes.

Skiadas currently has fewer than 40 inhabitants, but only a few years ago it could measure up to 400. Most have left for Germany, Athens or nearby towns to seek better employment as the sole profession one could have in its rocky mountain is sheep and goat herding.

Trivia

Original home of tech journalist Eugenia Loli-Queru.