The ruins of this famous oracle of the dead lie 53 kilometres from Preveza on the site of ancient Ephyra near the village of Messopotamo.

A sacred place in the valley of the Acheron river, its aura of mystery was enhanced in antiquity by the conviction that it was one of the entrances to Hades. It is not known when the worship of Persephone and Hades first took root here, but the ancients generally believed that deep openings into the earth, caves and gorges all led to the Underworld. They also believed that a person's soul was immortal after its freedom from the body and that a mortal's contact with the dead with a view to predicting the future demanded special preliminaries (sacrifices, a particular diet, etc.).

Excavations here have brought to light a labyrinthine building with corridors, chambers, colonnades and a sanctuary.

Not far from the Oracle one can see the walls and other ruins belonging to ancient Ephyra.

Kassopi

One of the best preserved ancient Greek cities, Kassopi stands 20 kilo-metres north of Nikopolis on the right side of the road to Paramithia.

It was the chief settlement of the Kassopaii, a Thesprotian tribe that broke away from the rest of the Thesprotians around 400 B.C. and formed an independent state. The size of the city, the agora, two theatres and prytaneion unearthed by the archaeologists, all indicate that it was the tribe's cultural centre. Recent digs also show that the site was inhabited as early as the Bronze Age.

The hill of Zalongo rises to the east of the site. In December 1802 the women of Souli became immortal when they danced their way over its cliffs rather than allow themselves fall into the hands of the Turks.

Towering at the edge of this historic rock is a colossal stone sculpture of the dancing women by Georgos Zongolopoulos (1954), which commemorates their heroism. And below it is the Zalongo Monastery (18th century) with a section of ancient polygonal wall a bit further to the west. South of this wall are the foundations of a peripteral 4th century B.C. temple, possibly dedicated to Aphrodite.

The Amvrakian wetlands

The double delta of the Louros and Arahthos rivers in the Amvrakian Gulf provides the conditions for the formation of a rare ecosystem of water - and salt-loving vegetation as well as a great diversity of birds and animals (herons, dolphins, sea turtles etc.), many of which are endangered. The area is protected under the RAMSAR international convention.