Ioannina

Ioannina (Greek: Ιωάννινα, often Γιάννενα /yanena/ or Γιάννινα /yanina/; anglicized to Yanina, see also: other names of Ioannina) is a city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a metropolitan population of approximately 100,000. It lies at an elevation of 600 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Ioannina Prefecture and of Epirus. The city lies on the western side of Lake Pamvotis (Greek: Λίμνη Παμβώτιδα). It is located 450 km northwest of Athens, 350 km southwest of Thessaloniki and 100 km east of the port of Igoumenitsa in the Ionian Sea.

The city has a General and a University Hospital; a University named University of Ioannina (5 km south of the city) with 17 departments and 13,000 students; as well as several departments of the Τechnological Educational Institute of Epirus, the headquarters of which are located in Arta.

The city's logo is consists of the portrait of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian crowned by a stylized depiction of the nearby ancient theatre of Dodoni, against an orange background.

History

Antiquity

The first indications of human existence in the prefecture of Ioannina are dated back to the Paleolithic period (38.000 years ago). This is testified by the stone tools that were found in the cavern of Kastritsa.

510—879

The city was named Ioannina, and put under the patronage of St. John, in the early Christian period, supposedly in 510 AD. The city was founded in the 6th century by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I.The city of Ioannina was first mentioned in 527 AD by the historian Prokopios who wrote about the founding of the city, the new Evroia.

879—1430

However it was not until 879 AD that the name Ioannina was used for the first time in the Acts of Constantinople.Ioannina was mentioned in 1020 in an imperial document by Basil II as an Episcopal Seat, under the self-governing (Autocephalous) Church of Ahrida. An even older source, from the Acts of the 879 Synod, referred to Zacharias, the Bishop of Ioannina.

The city was conquered in 1082 by the Normans under the leadership of Bohemund, who repaired the existing city walls in order to repel the offensive of emperor Alexios I Komnenos. In the 13th century, the creation of the Despotate of Epirus favoured Ioannina, which became its second most important city, after its capital, Arta. The founder of the Despotate, Michael I Komnenos Doukas settled Byzantine families of refugees, such as the Filanthropinoi, Stratigopouloi etc, who fled Constantinople after the fall of the city to the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade. These refugee families, together with the local nobility, took over the government of Ioannina in 1318 and broke away from Arta. In the same year, Ioannina became tributary to the Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus and a little later to the Serbs, who had, by then, expanded their state over much of Greek territory. The Byzantine emperor granted several privileges (administrative, economic, ecclesiastic) to the inhabitants of Ioannina. These privileges were honoured by the Serbs, too, and as a result Ioannina rose to a great economic and cultural level during the next centuries. The city flourished in time, becoming an important financial and cultural centre. During the Byzantine times it was referred to as the "Metropolis of knowledge". In 1367 the Serb Thomas Prilubovitch became the new overlord of Ioannina and after him the city surrendered to the [Isau Buandelmonti (1385-1411) and Carlo I Tocco (1411-1430).

1430—1789

The death of Tokko in 1430 signalled the submission of Ioannina to the Turks who granted, to the town, several privileges known as the Rule of Sinan Pasha, from the name of Karasinan Pasha who signed the treaty.

In 1611 the city suffered a serious setback as a peasant result of a revolt led by Dionysius the Philosopher (aka Skylosophos), Bishop of Larisa. The revolt ended in the abolishment of all privileges granted to the Christian inhabitants, who were driven away from the castle area and had to settle around it. From now onwards, Turks and Jews were to be established in the castle area.

Despite that great blow, the city managed to recover. Its inhabitants continued their commercial and handicraft activities which allowed them to trade with important European commercial centres, such as Venice and Livorno, where merchants from Ioannina established commercial and banking houses. At the same time they maintained close economic and intellectual relations with their birthplace and founded charity and education establishments. These merchants were to be major national benefactors.

The great economic prosperity of the city was followed by a remarkable cultural activity. During the 17th and 18th centuries, many important schools (Epiphanios, Goumas, Valeneios, Maroutsea, Zosimea etc.) were founded, taking over the long tradition of the Byzantine era.

In the 17th century Ioannina was a thriving city with respect to population and commercial activity as both French and Turkish travellers Jacques Spon and Evlia Celebi, respectively, inform us. Evlia Celebi visited the city in 1670 and mentions the presence of 1,900 shops and workshops and 4,000 houses.

1789—1821

In 1789 the city became the centre of the territory ruled by Ali Pasha, an area that included the entire northwestern Greece, Thessaly and a part of Evia and Peloponnese. Ali Pasha, one of the most influential personalities of the 18th century was of Albanian origin. He maintained diplomatic relations with the most important European leaders and his court became a point of attraction for many of those restless minds who were to evolve into major figures of the Greek Revolution Georgios Karaiskakis, Odysseas Androutsos, Markos Botsaris and others). The period of his rule coincides with the greatest ever economic and intellectual era of the city. As a couplet has it "The city was first in arms, money and letters". The efforts of Ali Pasha to break away from the Sublime Porte were very alarming. In 1821 (the year the Greek War of Independence began) he was declared guilty of treason and Ioannina were besieged by Turkish troops. Two years later Ali Pasha was assassinated in the chapel on the island of the lake, where he took refuge while waiting to be pardoned by the Sultan.

1821—1943

In 1869, a great part of Ioannina was destroyed by fire. Nonetheless, the marketplace was soon reconstructed according to the plans of the German architect Holz and thanks to the personal interest of Ahmet Rashim Pasha, the local governor. The communities of people from Ioannina living abroad were active in financing the construction of most of the city's churches (the Cathedral, St. Nicholas of the Agora, St. Marina, Archimandrio etc.), schools and other elegant buildings of charitable establishments.

In 21 February 1913, Ioannina was liberated and incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars. After the Asia Minor Catastrophe (1922) and the subsequent population exchange, the Turkish element left, and the city received Greek refugees from Asia Minor. In 1943 the Nazis deported the Jewish community of the city and most of its members were murdered.

Tourism

One of the most notable attractions of Ioannina is the islet on Lake Pamvotis. Passengers are ferried back and forth from the mainland to the island (about a 15-minute ride each way) on small motorboats which run on varying schedules, according to the season. (About once every half hour, or more, in the spring and summer, much less frequently in the winter.) Tourists can visit the Moni Panteleimonos monastery (Ali Pasha's aforementioned refuge) which has been converted into a museum containing information and paintings, as well as re-creations of Ali-Pasha's lounging and living quarters. The museum is not the only attraction on the island: there are many gift-shops, tavernas, churches and bakeries on the island's quaint, winding streets. Some of the people of Ioannina even choose to make the tiny island their yearlong home, with simple rowboats moored outside their homes, or in small marinas, in the event they need to get to Ioannina proper when the motorboats are not running.

Botanically, the region of Ioannina is dominated by robust, fragrant pine trees, many of which grow within the city itself, especially around the old castle, or fortress walls. The bizarre layout of the castle's streets, which either go around in circles or lead to dead ends, were supposedly designed to confuse pirates of old who breached the castle walls, so that they would get lost within the fortress, and be captured before escaping with their bounty.

• Ioannina is famous throughout Greece for its silverwork, with many shops selling silver jewelry and decor (serving trays, recreations of shields and swords, trinkets, etc.). The ornate style of the jewelry and artwork reflects more Turkish, rather than Greek, sensibilities, due to the lengthy Turkish occupation of the area. Ioannina is also one of the few places in Greece where one can purchase a hookah. Greeks rarely use hookahs; they are mainly sold to tourists as novelty items. The hookahs vary in size from tiny to quite large (some are 4-5 ft. tall.) The larger ones in particular can be quite attractive and are often purchased by Greeks and tourists alike to be used as decor. For those who would like to experiment smoking with a hookah, most hookah merchants carry a variety of flavored tobaccos.
• Within the castle in the centre of Ioannina city, the mosque of Aslan Pasha houses the Municipal History Museum, which includes works of folk art, as well as weapons and swords from the period of the Ottoman occupation of the area.
• The neighbouring region of Zagori comprises many traditional villages, such as Papigo, Skamneli and Monodentri. The region is noted for its scenery and traditional food.
• 10 km south of the city lies the Paul Vrellis Greek History Museum, a museum with wax statues like the Madame Thussaud Museum in London, England

Local products

Ioannina is well known for the production of feta cheese. The city is also famous for its spring water Zagori which is sold over much of Greece. The island in the lake Pamvotis is the only populated island within a lake in Europe. It is quite interesting to mention that the island is referred to as "Nisaki" (in Greek: little island) and thats the name formaly used by its inhabitants.

Communications

Television

• Ipiros TV1 - Epirus
• In Channel - Ioannina
• IRT - Ipirotiki RadioTileorasi - Epirus
• Cosmo TV - Ioannina
• ITV - Ioannina

Radio

• Radio Faros (Metsovo)
• Proto Kanali
• Sky Radio 99.2
• Super FM
• Vima FM

Municipal districts

• Exochi
• Marmara
  • Ammos
  • Kardamitsia
  • Kato Marmara
  • Olympiada
• Neochoropoulo
  • Kato Neochoropoulo
• Stavraki
  • Penteli
  • Tsiflikopoulo
  • Velisari

Sports teams

Ioannina is home to major sports team called PAS Giannina, which currently competes in the 2nd Division of the Greek football league. It is regarded as an inspiration for many of old as well as new supporters of the whole region of Epirus, even outside Ioannina.

Transportation

• Ioannina is served by Ioannina National Airport.
• The Via Egnatia roads passes by Ioannina. It goes from Igoumenitsa (port) to the Turkish Border. Many parts og Egnatia, especially in the region of Epirus, are still unfinished (September 2006).
• Air Sea Lines flies from Lake Pamvotis to Corfu with hydroplanes.
• Long-distance buses ride daily to Athens (7 hours) and Thessaloniki (4.5 hours).

Interesting facts

• Ioannina is home to many Orthodox Christian churches, and to three (defunct) mosques and a synagogue.
• There was a Jewish community living in Ioannina before WWII. The majority of them (1,860) was sent to concentration camps during the final months of German occupation (1944). Today only about 50 of them are left.
• Ioannina is mentioned in the book The Count of Monte Cristo.

• Distances from Ioannina to:
  • Athens - 466 km (via Rio)
  • Thessaloniki - 354 km
  • Patras - 261 km
  • Igoumenitsa - 104 km
  • Albanian border - 65 km

Population Data

Population of the Municipality of Ioannina.

Year	Population	Change	Municipal populataion	Change	Density
1981	44,829	—	—	—	—/km²
1991	56,699	+11,870/+26.47%	63,725	—	143.7/km²
2001	61,629	+4,930/+8.66%	70,203	+6,478/+10.17%	182/km²

Population statistics, 1981-2001.

External links

• Municipality of Ioannina (in Greek only)
• Tourist guide for Ioannina
• Ioannina Airport
• Paul Vrellis Greek History Museum
• Ioannina Town Guide
• University of Ioannina (new website, in Greek only)
• University of Ioannina (old website)
• Pindos Trek. Online Guide on the mountains of Ioannina province
• 360° Virtual tours of Ioaanina
• Kehila Kedosha Janina (Jewish community from Ioannina, in New York City)