Mule drivers of Metsovo

The mule drivers of Metsovo were one of the most significant professional transporters in the Ottoman Empire. In the Ottoman Empire and especially in the Balkans, the transportation of goods was performed almost exclusively with mules. The range and method of operation of the mule owners made the profession of mule driver one of the most important ones for all land commerce of the time. In 1707, written sources start mentioning them as already having a trade guild established which leads us to believe that they were occupied in the transportation of goods since even older times. Throughout the 18th and 19th century they form one of the most active groups in the goods transportation industry in the Balkans. Pouqueville says the Vlach mule drivers are known with the name Metsovites, while he considers the people of Metsovo and the people of Zagori as the most active mule drivers in Turkey’s European market. Bοué describes the keratzides of Metsovo as the most famous ones in all “Albania” and among the most renowned ones in the Balkans. According to Goudas, the transportation of goods from Bucharest, Constantinople, Belgrade and Andrianoupolis was performed almost exclusively by Metsovites mule drivers, in Turkish kerantsimpasi.