Greece - Korina Miller [264]
However, things were not terrible during Ottoman times for Ioannina, which enjoyed special privileges and became a leading cultural and artistic centre. Important new schools were founded, skilled craftsmen created intricate silver and gold jewellery and, through the 16th and 17th centuries, the ‘Epirot School’ of religious painting blossomed.
As Ottoman power ebbed in the late 18th century, crafty opportunists such as Albanian warlord Ali Pasha (1741–1822) seized their opportunity. In 1789, the morally reprehensible yet oddly charismatic Ali made Ioannina the capital of his personal fiefdom, one which would encompass much of Albania and western Greece. Despite a penchant for cruelty that sickened that philhellene, Lord Byron, Ali enforced law and order, and Ioannina flourished. Nevertheless, in 1822, trapped at the Agios Pandeleimon monastery on the Island (To Nisi) in Lake Pamvotis, the octogenarian Ali was finally liquidated by some very irritated Ottomans, who paraded his severed head around İstanbul.
Although Ottoman rule returned to Ioannina, it would become increasingly tenuous, and during the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, Ioannina was captured by the Greek army. The city’s ethnic character changed dramatically over the next 30 years; in 1923, with the mandated Greek–Turkish population exchanges, Muslim Turks were replaced with Anatolian Greek refugees, while in 1943 the occupying Germans deported most of Ioannina’s centuries-old Jewish population to concentration camps.
Orientation
Ioannina is large, though walkable; parking, however, is tough. There’s a municipal car park (€2) off the main square, Plateia Pyrrou. Ioannina’s new bus station is on Georgiou Papandreou, a five-minute walk to the old town (the Kastro), where the majority of Ioannina’s historic sites are located. Though essentially residential, the Kastro has Ioannina’s most atmospheric accommodation choices. The airport is 5km northwest of town.
Information
BOOKSHOPS
Papasotiriou Bookstore ( 26510 64000; Mihail Angelou 6) English-language books, maps and Lonely Planet guides.
EMERGENCY
Tourist police ( 26510 65938; 28 Oktovriou 11)
INTERNET ACCESS
On-Line ( 26510 72512; Pyrsinella 4; per hr €2; 9am-6am)
Web ( 26510 26813; Pyrsinella 21; per hr €2.30; 24hr)
LAUNDRY
Self Service Laundry ( 26510 25542; Tsirigoti 3; full wash €8; 9.30am-2.30pm & 6-9pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-2.30pm Sat)
MEDICAL SERVICES
University Hospital ( 26510 99111) Eight kilometres south, inside the university campus.
MONEY
Plateia Pyrrou and Averof’s southern end host the major banks/ATMs.
POST
Post office Georgiou Papandreou (Georgiou Papandreou); Octovriou (28 Oktovriou 3)
TOURIST INFORMATION
EOS (Greek Alpine Club; 26510 22138; Despotatou Ipirou 2; 7-9pm Mon-Fri)
EOT ( 26510 41142; fax 26510 49139; Dodonis 39; 7.30am-2.30pm Mon-Fri) Provides general information and hiking updates for the Zagorohoria and Vikos Gorge.
Sights
The Kastro’s sublime Its Kale (Inner Citadel; 8am-5pm & 8-10pm Tue-Sun) rises from a long bluff overlooking lake and mountain. The relaxing Its Kale contains the Tomb of Ali Pasha and the restored Fetiye Cami (Victory Mosque), originally built in 1611 to reassert Ottoman dominance, following a failed Greek uprising that caused Christians to be expelled from the citadel.
The adjacent Byzantine Museum ( 26510 25989; Its Kale; admission €3; 8am-5pm Tue-Sun), housed in two nearby buildings (including Ali Pasha’s former palace) presents early Christian and Byzantine art, pottery, coins and silverware, and even post-Byzantine icons and manuscripts. The priceless treasures include early printed Greek books from Venice and ornate silver jewellery boxes with cloisonné enamel. Textual accompaniments give a fascinating overview of Ioannina’s history from the 4th to the 17th century.
The Municipal Ethnographic Museum ( 26510 26356; adult/student €3/1.50; 8am-8pm) is at the Kastro’s northern end in the Aslan Pasha