Prejudice makes us believe that nature today is less alive and present than it was in the past. One of the first observations made on site, in an attempt to recreate the scenes captured by the Manakia brothers, is that the mountains in 1900 were more barren and less forested than they are now. Look at this photograph from Molovishte, from 1900, and compare it with the one taken today! At the turn of the 20th century, these villages were densely populated, almost like small towns. As people and flocks have diminished, nature has reclaimed the land. But the wandering of the Vlachs is ancient. Wace and Thompson note: “Molovishte says it was once lower down the ravine near Kazhani on the Monastir-Okhridha road.”
