Kokkinopilos near Preveza – red earth, erosion and traces of the Palaeolithic
A landscape that suddenly no longer feels like Epirus
Even the first glimpse of Kokkinopilos feels unusual. Between wooded hills and dense green vegetation, red, softly shaped ridges, small valleys and washed-out gullies suddenly appear. Although we already had a rough idea of what to expect, seeing it in person was something else entirely.
We visited at the end of May. There had been heavy rain shortly beforehand, so the red soil was still quite damp. As a result, it looked noticeably darker to us than in many photos showing Kokkinopilos in dry weather.
The further we walked in, the more unreal the landscape seemed. Not because it is completely barren – quite the opposite. Trees and shrubs grow between the red formations, with green hills rising again behind them. It is precisely this contrast that makes Kokkinopilos so special.
Quick info: Kokkinopilos near Preveza
Location: Municipality of Ziros, Preveza Regional Unit, Epirus
Ideal for: unusual landscapes, geology, history, photography and walks
Good to know: The colour of the soil can look very different depending on the weather and moisture. After rain, the red appears darker, while dry soil usually looks much more vivid.
Best time: Spring or autumn are particularly pleasant for a longer walk.
Unfiltered tip: Don’t focus only on the red hills. The exposed tree roots are especially impressive and show just how strongly erosion continues to shape this landscape.
Where to explore: Kokkinopilos near Filippiada – View on Google Maps
Why the place is called Kokkinopilos
On Google Maps, you may also come across the name “Kokini amos” for this area. In official regional information and scientific literature, however, the place is known as Kokkinopilos – Κοκκινοπηλός.
The name describes the soil quite accurately. The Greek word πηλός means clay or mud; Kokkinopilos can therefore be understood roughly as “red clay”.
The intense colour is linked to iron oxides in the soil. They give the deposits their characteristic red and rust-coloured tones.
Where does this red landscape come from?
Kokkinopilos lies in a depression bordered by geological faults. Geoarchaeological studies suggest that the area was periodically occupied by a shallow lake or wetland, which repeatedly dried out partly or completely. Fine sediments were deposited over very long periods.
What you see today is therefore not simply a collection of red hills that has always looked exactly like this.
Rain, flowing water and erosion have gradually cut deeper and deeper into the soft ground. This created the small ridges, furrows and gullies that shape Kokkinopilos today. The process is not complete – the surface continues to change.
Trees clinging to the red soil
We found some of the trees almost as fascinating as the red formations themselves.
In places, erosion has removed so much soil that large parts of their roots are completely exposed. Some seem to cling to the remaining ground with an entire network of strong roots.
Seen from the side, these exposed roots almost look like small works of art.
At the same time, they make what is happening here immediately visible. The soil beneath them has disappeared while the trees continue to grow. It is especially in these places that you realise Kokkinopilos is not an unchanging landscape.
People were here as early as the Palaeolithic
Beneath the unusual surface lies another story.
Kokkinopilos is one of Greece’s important open-air Palaeolithic sites. The site became known through archaeological investigations in the early 1960s. Since then, thousands of worked stones and tools from different phases of the Palaeolithic have been found here.
Several bifacial stone tools, including handaxes, have attracted particular attention.
For a long time, there was debate over whether such finds were still in their original positions or had been moved within the area by erosion. More recent studies, however, have shown that largely undisturbed sediment layers containing Palaeolithic tools have also survived at Kokkinopilos.
Some of these layers date back to the Middle Pleistocene. Kokkinopilos therefore provides important evidence of very early human activity in the area of present-day Greece.
So as you walk between these red hills, you are moving through a landscape that was already used by people well over 100,000 years ago.
Kokkinopilos looked different back then
You should not, however, simply imagine today’s landscape transported back into the Palaeolithic.
The red deposits are very old, but the surface we see today developed only gradually. Water moved sediments, erosion carved gullies into the ground, and what was originally a much more level depression developed into the more deeply eroded landscape visible today.
People moving through this area during the Palaeolithic therefore did not look out over exactly the same small red hills and gullies that we see now.
That makes Kokkinopilos even more interesting: the place tells not only the story of a very old landscape, but also how much landscapes can change over long periods of time.
The Nicopolis aqueduct runs beneath Kokkinopilos
Another period of history also lies beneath the red soil.
The Roman aqueduct of Nicopolis carried water over a distance of around 50 kilometres from the springs of the Louros to Nicopolis. Along this long route, Roman builders had to overcome very different types of terrain.
In the area around Kokkinopilos, they chose to build a tunnel. The aqueduct passes underground through the site, connecting this unusual landscape with one of the region’s major Roman engineering projects.
It is also interesting that preserved shafts of the aqueduct provide researchers with clues as to how much the surface of Kokkinopilos has changed since Roman times.
If you have read our article about the Roman aqueduct of Nicopolis, this is another section of the same structure.
Our route to Kokkinopilos
We came from the direction of Romia and first drove past Ziropoli. From there, we continued along the edge of Kokkinopilos until we reached the point where we parked the car. We covered the rest of the way on foot, heading into the red landscape.
Kokkinopilos can be reached from different directions. The area around Agios Georgios and the Roman aqueduct is also mentioned in official descriptions as a possible starting point. This does not mean there is direct access from the village into the red hills, however; from the aqueduct area, a footpath continues towards Kokkinopilos.
How far you can or should drive along the unpaved tracks depends on their current condition. For that reason, we would not treat our own route as a general driving recommendation.
Between red earth and dense greenery
What impressed us most was the contrast. Red soil lies between dense greenery, small hills merge into washed-out gullies, and between them stand trees whose exposed roots visibly cling to the earth.
At first glance, Kokkinopilos seems almost surreal. At the same time, the red landscape lies between the wooded hills of the surrounding area.
On our first visit, we did not come close to seeing the entire area. Even so, what we did see was enough to understand why Kokkinopilos feels so unusual.
Practical tips for your visit
Access and car: Kokkinopilos is not developed like a conventional visitor attraction. How far you can drive along forest and field tracks depends on their current condition; depending on the route, the final section is covered on foot.
After rain: The clay-rich soil can become very soft, slippery and sticky.
Shoes: Footwear with good grip is useful on the uneven terrain.
Dogs: During our visit, we repeatedly heard dogs, although we did not encounter any. Farm dogs or livestock guardian dogs may be present in the rural surroundings.
Terrain: The red formations are constantly being reshaped by erosion. Around steeper gullies and washed-out edges, it is therefore important to watch the ground carefully.
Combine with Lake Ziros and the aqueduct: Kokkinopilos can easily be combined with a visit to nearby Lake Ziros, around eight kilometres away. A visible section of the Roman aqueduct of Nicopolis near Agios Georgios is also in the area and can be included in the same trip.
Discover more in the region
If you would like to explore more history and landscapes in the Preveza Regional Unit after Kokkinopilos, these articles are a good place to continue:
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