Page:The nomads of the Balkans, an account of life and customs among the Vlachs of Northern Pindus (1914).djvu/49

 extremity stands that of Little St Mary’s, Stāmāria atsea n'ikă. To the south on a ridge cut off from the rest of the village by a deep ravine is the church of St Elijah, Aigl'a, below which on the other side of the ravine is that of St Athanasius, Ayiu Athanase.

Before proceeding to describe in detail anything connected with Samarina, let us first take a general view of the village. The most convenient place to begin is the Pade of the church of Great St Mary’s (Plate XIV 1). The Pade is a large green on the south side of the church, opposite to which is the principal Greek school, where there is a small library of old editions of classical authors bequeathed by a former schoolmaster. In the centre of the green is a row of lofty poplars which in the summer afford a pleasant shade for the classes held out of doors. To the east the edge of the green is enclosed by a low stone wall covered on top with short rough planks, a favourite place to sit and talk in the evening or on Sunday morning after church. Looking down into the valley from the edge of the green we see several mills both for grinding corn and for washing the woollen fabrics made in the village. Above these, as also all round the outskirts, is a network of meadows, where hay or clover is grown. Above them are a few houses with gardens dotted with plum, cherry and apple trees. If we turn our eyes further afield we can survey the wooded height of Ghumara to our right, or to our left the Morminde and the long ridge that leads from it to Samarina. We can see on it our road from Ghrevena, and keen eyes will pick out what muleteers or families are coming up. But let us walk through the village. We turn to the west and make for the principal entrance to the green leaving on our right behind the campanile of the church the large tall house of the Besh family, one of the landmarks of the village. In the same corner is the Shoput di la Stāmāria, the conduit of St Mary. Samarina possesses some fifteen or more similar conduits in different quarters, so that the inhabitants never have to go far for water. To most of the conduits as with this one, the water is brought in wooden pipes carved out of pine trunks from springs on the hill side above. All along the course of the pipe line are wooden traps to facilitate