page_title: Vikos–Aoös National Park
section_title: Mt Tymphe
hierarchical_section_title: Vikos–Aoös National Park / Geography and geology / Mt Tymphe
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Panoramisches Ansicht der Drakolimni (Drachensee) eingerahmt von den Bergspitzen des Ploskos (Mitte) und Astraka (rechts) English: Panoramic view of Drakolimni, overlooked by Ploskos peak (center) and Astraka peak (right). Ελληνικά: Πανοραμική άποψη της Δρακόλιμνης. Διακρίνονται οι κορυφές Πλόσκος (στο κέντρο) και Αστράκα (δεξιά)
context_page_description: The Vikos–Aoös National Park is a national park in the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece. The park, founded in 1973, is one of ten national parks in mainland Greece and is located 30 kilometres north of the city of Ioannina in the northern part of the Pindus mountain range. It is named after the two major gorges of the area and encompasses 12,600 hectares of mountainous terrain, with numerous rivers, lakes, caves, deep canyons, dense coniferous and deciduous forest. The park is part of the Natura 2000 ecological network and one of UNESCO Geoparks and spans an elevation range from 550 to 2,497 meters. Over 100,000 people visit the park each year and take part in activities including rafting, canoe-kayaking, hiking and mountain biking.
  The core of the park, an area of 3,400 hectares, comprises the spectacular Vikos Gorge, carved by the Voidomatis river. The gorge's main part is 12 km long and attains a depth of 1,000 meters. The Aoös gorge, Mt Tymphe, and a number of traditionally preserved settlements form the park's peripheral zone.
context_section_description: Between the two gorges lies the Tymphe mountain range. Its highest peaks are Gamila 2,497 m (8,192 ft), Astraka 2,436 m (7,992 ft), Ploskos 2,400 m (7,874 ft), and Lapatos 2,251 m (7,385 ft). A unique feature of this area is natural pools formed by the erosion of local stream beds. A number of alpine lakes are found in the high-altitude zone of Mt Tymphe, surrounded by alpine pasture, which are home to several rare amphibian species. The biggest lake of the National Park, Drakolimni ("Dragonlake"), a formation that was created after the retreat of the glaciers, is located at a height of 2,000 m (6,562 ft) on Mt Tymphe. Its maximum depth is 4.95 m (16 ft), while its surface covers 1 ha (2 acres).
  A number of vertical caves and precipices are found in the area around the village of Papingo, which lies near the Gamila and Astraka peaks. Some of them bear names inspired from mythology, such as the Hole of Odysseus and Chasm of Epos. These are being studied and explored by caving enthusiasts. The cave of "Provatina" ("Ewe's Cave"), with a depth of 408 m (1,339 ft), one of the deepest worldwide, was first discovered in 1965 by British speleologists of the Cambridge University Caving Club, and has since then been surveyed by a large number of expeditions. The nearby Chasm of Epos, with a depth of 451 m (1,480 ft), drains the water coming from the surrounding plateaus.
  Mt Tymphe represents a series of uplifted fault blocks and faulted escarpments and is largely composed of Palaeocene-Eocene limestone, with some exposures of Campanian-Jurassic dolomite and limestone on the northern scarp. The lower slopes are dominated by younger flysch rocks, which consist of thin beds of graded sandstones intercalated with softer, fissile siltstones. Extended glacial conditions prevailed on the uplands of Mt Tymphe during the Late Quaternary period, ca. 28,000 years ago. The glacial landscape is well-developed, especially on the southern slopes of Mt Tymphe, across the Astraka-Gamila plateau, and in the upland terrain above the villages of Skamneli and Tsepelovo, where lateral and terminal moraines form major landscape features. Additional forms of glacial deposits, which extend down to 850 m (2,789 ft) above sea level, include rock glaciers and limestone pavements.
caption: Drakolimni (Dragonlake), overlooked by Ploskos (center) and Astraka (right) peaks
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