Ropoto – The “Sinking” Village

Once upon a time, there was a village called Ropoto… Built at an altitude of approximately 750 meters, it was divided into 7 settlements (the “central” one, and Tsekoura, Polythea, Panagia, Longies, Agios Ioannis, Agios Dimitrios) within a 7-kilometer radius on the slopes of the northern Agrafa mountains, 12 km from Pyli and 30 km from Trikala. At one time, 300 families lived here, most of whom were engaged in livestock farming and the production of delicious apples. The village had its own watermill and four traditional distilleries. 

Until, suddenly, in 2012, it “lost the ground beneath its feet”! A massive landslide – subsidence swept away roads, houses, and infrastructure. Almost 45 houses were wiped off the map, dozens more were damaged, hundreds of apple trees “sank,” and a large part of the village shifted by hundreds of meters! Miraculously, no human lives were lost, but the material damage was enormous. 

According to some of the older residents, the phenomenon wasn’t actually so “sudden.” The “sinkings” (subsidence) had started, to a lesser degree and with milder damage, since the 1960s. Even back then, underground waters were eroding the foundations of the settlement. In February 2010, another loud warning bell rang. However, the intensity of the phenomenon during the major disaster of 2012 was unprecedented and permanently altered the character of the village. Today, anyone who visits the central settlement of Ropoto sees images that resemble a movie set: houses tilted or half-destroyed, roads that lead into the void, and nature that gradually “swallowed” human effort.

The “Leaning Church of Pisa”

The most impressive and most photographed spot in Ropoto is the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, which held its last service on Easter Tuesday, April 17, 2012, just hours before the major disaster. It still stands “upright” (so to speak), but with a tilt exceeding 17 degrees. For comparison, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, after stabilization works (between 1990–2001), leans by “only” 3.97 degrees — and in the past “only” 5.5!

The church has become the village’s trademark and a magnet for photographers, travelers, and visitors seeking the eerie and the bizarre. Its image from afar, with the cross on top still standing proudly, evokes awe and emotion. 

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A sense of disorientation and confusion

The real challenge begins when someone approaches and tries to reach its entrance. Although it seems easy enough to walk the short distance from the road, after the first few steps, you’re overwhelmed by a feeling that’s hard to describe. Something in the human brain fails to process what it sees and what is happening. A sense of disorientation, confusion, imbalance, dizziness, and nausea—sometimes to the point of discomfort—grips the visitor, who struggles to proceed without tightly gripping the railings that have been installed. 

Ropoto has now become a magnet for researchers, Instagrammers, and TikTokers who, ignoring the warning sign (“ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK”), step inside the village’s church, attempting to walk on the sloped floor without falling — all for the next “story.” However, no one can guarantee that the subsidence is truly over, nor that the structure, which has shown remarkable resilience, will continue to resist gravity forever! That’s why we repeat: Enter at your own risk!

P.S. A short distance from Ropoto, you can visit one of the most beautiful stone bridges in Greece, the Palaiokarya Bridge, with its waterfalls!

*The tilts in the photos are absolutely real. The built-in electronic level of the camera was used.