Vovousa (; ) is a village and a former community in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Zagori, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 51.029 km<sup>2</sup>. It is one of the original Zagori villages. Population 132 (2021).
The names of the river Vjosa and village are intertwined. The river in Greek is known as Vovousa by the village of Vovousa and the surrounding area and in Aromanian both are named as BÃÂiasa. Aoos, the ancient form of the river name was preserved in the subsequent forms Voosa and Vovousa as they preserved the f sound of the mainland Doric Greek dialect in the toponym or the later development of a dentolabial v between vowels and by the influence of the Albanian article.
Historian Gottfried Schramm described the Albanian Vjosë (and the Albanian prepositional forms vijosje/vijosja 'trench') as the basis for the Serbo-Croatian Vajusa and Vojuà ¡a, whereby either one of the unstressed a or o forms expressed in Aromanian as an unstressed a derived the Aromanian name BÃÂiasa. Linguist Kostas Oikonomou states the toponym was formed in Aromanian from bàÃÂasà'lake, marsh' and derived from the noun baie meaning 'bath, mine' and the suffix -(i)oasÃÂ, linked to the Slavic banja and Latin balneum 'bath'.
Vovousa is located on the river Vjosa and is one of the easternmost villages of Zagori. It is also located near the National Park of Valia Kalda (Valea Caldàin Aromanian/ Romanian, meaning âÂÂwarm valleyâÂÂ). The single-arched stone bridge of Misios was built in 1748 with a donation by Alexis Mitsios from Vitsa.
Vovousa was considered among the largest villages in Zagori. Most of its inhabitants moved in the 19th century to the vicinity of Serres in Macedonia. The village was burnt by the Germans on 23 October 1943.
Vovousa has an Aromanian population and is an Aromanian speaking village. In the early 21st century, elderly people were bilingual in the community language and Greek, whereas younger residents under 40 might have understood the community language but did not use it. Some Sarakatsani settled in the village during the early 20th century. The Sarakatsani are Greek speakers.