The village of Qeparo is famous for its production of Olive oil, and that can be sen as you approach the village with its endless green of the olives.
Close to the gulf of Panormi ( Palermo by tourists) stands the village of Qeparo, with its own distinctive beach and the old settlement of Qeparo build on a rocky hill overlooking the Ioanian sea.
The village of Qeparo is part of the municipality of Himara and it is located 13 kilometres south of Himara and next to Borshi. It has a population of 1200 inhabitant and as the resto of the villages most of them have immigrated in Greece and other cities in Albania. According to 19th century topographer William Martin Leake, the original name of the village was Kiepero or Kiparos, which derives from the Greek word kipos, meaning garden.
Qeparo is also divided in two parts, the Old Qeparo an ancient settlement built on the western slope 450 meters above the sea level. Later on, its inhabitants settled a little further down, in the Gjivlash Slope, southeast of the hill of Kasteli, to be closer to their fields and to escape the cold of the winter and formed the newest part of the village called just Qeparo.
Not too much is known for the pas of this village but its first mention is at some papers of the Ottoman empire (1431 and 1583) about properties and houses on Qeparo. According to those papers at that time there were a total of 50 houses.
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With a perfect combination of Sea and Mountain, the village of Qeparo plays an important role as a tourist destination, not only during the summer but also off the season. There are a few accommodations and guest houses available to guests. And some decent restaurants at its promenade.
The Monastery of St. Demetrius is located in the centre of Qeparo where it has created an ensemble with other objects of social character in the years. The church has the features of the Coastal Churches and was built in 1760. The only decorative elements are the conclusions of the walls with frames in the form of saw teeth. It is in very good condition and is easily visited from the centre of village.
The old village of Qeparo, now a ghost village made up of narrow cobbled alleys and stone houses abandoned and in ruin. The village is on the top of a mountain and even if the road to get there has been the most frightful we drove during the whole road-trip, the view on Qeparo bay from above and the charm of this abandoned village is worth it!
Located north of the village of Upper Qeparo is the prehistoric settlement of prehistoric settlement of Karos, situated 450m above sea level and dates to 1200-1000 BC in the late Bronze Age. The Karos settlement played an important role on the coast from the 12th-5th centuries BC in its role as a fortified and militarized centre. After the 6th century AD, the settlement became a farming and agricultural centre.
"The old village of Qeparo is a perfect example of the regions past, join us on a guided tour in the numerous stone houses and old settlements of this ghost village."
