The word Zagori appears to be of Slavic origin and possibly means Za-gori (place behind the mountains). The first groups of the people at Zagori are mentioned at 1352A.D and mostly lived at west region. These villages (Papingo, Ano Soudena & Kato Soudena) were the heart of Zagori.

Before the Ottoman’s captured Epirus, the Zagori region was ruled by the Epirus Kingdom and in 1430 it was divided into East, Central and West Zagori.

When the Ottoman’s came to Zagori, an elected group of Zagori dignitaries met with the Sultan’s deputy (Kara Sinan Pasha) and declared their submission on the condition that they would be granted autonomy, self-government and total exemption of taxes.

  Thinking that it was the easiest way enters Ioannina, Kara Sinan Pasha kept all the promises to 14 villages of Central Zagori.

But the only obligation of the Zagori people was to send some men to Istanbul to repair and take care the Imperial army carriages for one and a half month per year. Those people who went there, at the Imperial stables were named Voinac (=grooms) and the area was named Voinico.

Gradually, Zagori began paying a tribute, instead sending people.

At 1823,after the killing of Ali Pasha, intruders of Albania, entered Zagori and killed people, stole money. The people of Zagori, who were, at the time, living in Constantinople, the Ottoman capital, managed to gain power and intervened through the Sultan, who ordered the Vali (=regional governor) of Ioannina, a Mehmet Resi Pasha, to arrest and behead the leaders of the gangs.

In 1828 the inhabitants of Zagori gathered in Ioannina and, after a general assembly made a list of rules, known as Siouroutia, which regulated the family, social and communal affairs as well as the inheritance matters. A new era of self-government began at Zagori. This lasted until 1868, before it was abolished by the Ottoman Empire on the ground that there was a rebellious mentality growing in Zagori. However, the true reason for the abolishment was the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and the broader developments.