Tymphe

Tymphe (in Latin and English usage) or Tymfi (in the Greek government's preferred transliteration), Timfi, also Tymphi (Greek: Τύμφη, [ˈtimfi]) is a mountain in the northern Pindus mountain range, in northwestern Greece. It is part of the regional unit of Ioannina and lies in the region of Zagori, just a few metres south of the 40° parallel. Tymphe forms a massif with its highest peak, Gamila, at 2,497 m (8,192 ft).

The massif of Tymphe includes in its southern part the Vikos Gorge, while they both form part of the Vikos–Aoös National Park which accepts over 100,000 visitors per year. The former municipality of Tymfi owed its name to the mountain.

The exact meaning of the name is not known but has been in use since ancient times. The name "Tymphe" or "Stymphe" is mentioned by ancient geographer Strabo, Book 7, Ch. 7, and is associated with the ancient land of Tymphaea and the Tymphaeans, one of the tribes of Ancient Epirus. Despite its ancient use, the name does not appear in any descriptions of the area by Greek or foreign geographers of the 19th century. In du Bocage's map of the region, made in 1820, the mountain is referred to as "Paleo-Vouni" (Greek for Old-Mountain) and Pouqueville mentions the name "Lazaris" in 1826.

The etymology of the mountain's peaks are mainly of Greek origin. The highest peak Gamíla (Γκαμήλα, [gaˈmila]) means camel in Greek; Karterós (Καρτερός, [karteros]) means mighty or powerful; Megála Lithária (Μεγάλα Λιθάρια, [meˈɣala liˈθarja]) means big rocks in modern Greek; Astráka (Αστράκα, [astraka]) is a Greek word for a roof's eaves derived from Slavic стреха; Lápato (Λάπατο, [lapato]) is the Greek word for sorrel; the name for the mountain's third highest peak Goúra (Γκούρα, [gura]) is from a common modern Greek word derived from the Latin gula also related to Aromanian gură: a mountain spring; Tsoúka Róssa (Τσούκα Ρόσσα, [ˈt͡suka ˈrosa]) means "red peak" in Aromanian.^{[citation needed]}

The mountain is surrounded by various massifs that also form part of the northern Pindus mountain range. Northeast of Tymphe lies the highest mountain of Pindus, Smolikas. The mountain of Trapezitsa lies to the north, Lyngos to the east and Mitsikeli to the south. The Aoos river flows to the north of Mt Tymphe while its tributary Voidomatis has its sources in the mountain. Vikos Gorge is formed by the Voidomatis on the southwestern side of the mountain. The length of the mountain is approximately 20 to 25 km with a direction from east to west and its width is approximately 15 km from north to south. The southern and southeastern slopes of the mountain are comparatively smooth. The north side, however, forms cliffs reaching 400 m (1,312 ft), whereas the western side is equally steep since the mountain is fragmented by Vikos Gorge.

The massif includes several peaks that stand above 2400m. From west to east the most prominent are the following: Astraka, 2,436 m (7,992 ft), Ploskos, 2,377 m (7,799 ft), Gamila, 2,497 m (8,192 ft), Gamila ΙΙ, 2,480 m (8,136 ft), Karteros, 2,478 m (8,130 ft), Megala Litharia, 2,467 m (8,094 ft), Tsouka Rossa, 2,379 m (7,805 ft), and Goura, 2,466 m (8,091 ft). The peaks form a plateau. Astraka, dominates the plateau on its northern face. A mountain hut named D. Georgoulis, which operates during the summer months, is located at the mountain pass between the peaks of Astraka and Lapatos at 1930m of altitude. There are several lakes on the mountain, some of which dry out during the summer. The most famous of those that have water year-round is Drakolimni (lit. "Dragon lake" in Greek), formed after the retreat of the glaciers. It is located at a height of 2,000 m (6,562 ft) northwest of Ploskos. Its maximum depth is 4.95 m (16 ft), while its surface covers 1 ha (2 acres).

Mount 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 Mount Tymphe during the Late Quaternary period, ca. 28,000 years ago. The glacial landscape is well-developed, especially on the southern slopes of Mount 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.

A number of vertical caves and precipices are found in the area around the village of Papingo, in the vicinity of the Gamila and Astraka peaks. Some of them have been given names inspired from mythology, such as the Hole of Odysseus and Chasm of Epos. They are being studied and explored by caving enthusiasts. The cave of "Provatina" (Lit. "Ewe's Cave"), with a depth of 408 m (1,339 ft), one of the deepest in the world, 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.