Fragades is a picturesque village, built amphitheatrically at an altitude of 960 meters, opposite the imposing Mitsikeli and which is 58 km from Ioannina. It belongs to the villages of central Zagori and is classified as a traditional preserved settlement. The settlement of Fragades owes its name to Antonio Fragos, who in 1384 killed the Serbian ruler of Ioannina, Thomas Perlumbo.
Below the central square of the village, is the monastery of Agios Nikolaos Fragadon which was founded in 1578. The monastery was damaged several times by land subsidence and was repaired several times. The current shape of the monastery is due to the last repair carried out in 1960. Today only the monastery's catholicon is preserved.
South-east of Fragades, on a small hill (Paliomonastiros site), the ruins of an old monastery are preserved, which, according to tradition, was dedicated to the Taxiarches Gabriel and Michael and belonged jointly to Fragades and Leptokarya.
Also, near the village of Fragades, on the road from Leptokarya to Kipous, above Zagoritiko (Arachthos) is the stone bridge of Petsoni which was built in 1830 and today is kept in very good condition and has been designated a preserved monument. It is a stone, double-arched bridge, which owes its name to a certain Petsoni from Dilofos, who financed its construction.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou