The last shepherd

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

This is our friend Vasilis, the last shepherd in Mikro Papingo, and Iannis, his Albanan helper shearing goats. Mikro Papingo is one of the numerous stone villages found in the Zagorochoria in the mountains of north west Greece.
After wintering his flock of 350 goats in the Vikos Gorge, living in a cave for weeks on end Vasilis brings the goats and their young back to the village in the spring. The adult goats' hair need trimming and Vasilis still does this with hand shears rather than an electric razor. This clip is where a younger goat which has not been sheared before is brought in and is very nervous. You can hear it trying to escape past the corrugated iron gate at one point and the very calm and measured reaction from Vasilis and Iannis who sooth it into the mesmeric clipping sounds.
In the past the goat hair was highly prized for making the incredibly warm and waterproof coats (samaroskouti) worn by the shepherds. When I asked Vasilis where his clippings would go he said "only the birds want it now for their nests".
In the past there were many flocks of sheep and goats in the mountains numbering in their thousands. Over the last 50 years hospitality and tourism have become major activities and the younger generations of the shepherding families are turning to this as a preferred way of life.
Vasilis is the last shepherd in the village. These sounds are close to dying out and to have documented these and many other sounds over the years has been a huge privilege.
UNESCO listing: Zagori Cultural Landscape
Recorded by Peter Annear.
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This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights.
Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage