IOANNINA CITADEL

This 15-hectare citadel (Κάστρο Ιωαννίνων/Kastro Ioanninon) is the oldest and most pleasant part of Ioannina, with an inhabited quarter, cobbled streets, large sections of ramparts, two forts, three museums, numerous monuments as well as accommodation, cafés and restaurants. Situated to the west of the town center, it occupies the small peninsula that juts out into Lake Pamvotis (19 ^km2). The Kastro was created by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II in 1020 on the site of earlier fortifications, and was extensively altered by its various occupants, notably during the reign of Ali Pasha of Ioannina (1787-1822). The entrance is on Averof Street through the Agios Georgios gate, redesigned by the Ottomans in 1843. It is defended to the south by Thoma's tower, built during the reign of Serbian despot Toma Preljubović (1367-1384). To the north, along the western rampart on rue Ioustinianou, stands the Kahal-Kadosh-Yashan synagogue. Rebuilt in the ^19th century, it was founded in 1540, when the town had some 5,000 Jews, compared with around 50 today. In 1944, 1,832 Jews from Ioannina were murdered by the Nazis, representing 97% of the community.

Forts Epano Goula and Its Kale. Continuing north, you come to the Byzantine baths (early ^13th century), behind which is a park and the quay from which boats depart for the island of Ioannina. Around Glikidon square, the same area also houses the Ottoman baths and the ^17th-century "Turkish" library. The complex is dominated by the Epano Goula ("tower above") fort, where Byzantine governors once sat. The fort's most outstanding feature is the Aslan-Paşa mosque, built by an Albanian pasha in 1618 and still preserving its minaret. Since 1933, the mosque has housed the Ethnographic Museum of Ioannina, featuring ancient artifacts from the town's Greek, Jewish, Turkish and Albanian communities. To the southeast, the Its Kale fort(Iç Kale in Turkish: "inner fortress") is larger and more impressive. Access is via a monumental gateway, then a long ramp lined by the former guardroom, now home to the pleasant Its Kale bar-restaurant.

Tomb, mosque and silverware. On the Its Kale acropolis, on the right is a 12.5 m-high round tower erected by the Norman Bohemond of Taranto in 1082, the remains of Ali Pasha's palace and the Agii Anargyri church (1878). Further along, on the left, are two of the city's landmarks. The first is the tomb of Ali Pasha, covered by a superb wrought-iron cage. Only the body of the Albanian tyrant lies here: his mummified head was sent to the sultan in Constantinople. Just next door stands the high minaret of the Fethiye ("Conquest") Mosque. It was built when the Ottomans took Ioannina in 1430, and modified by Ali Pacha in 1795. It offers magnificent views over the lake. Its Kale also houses two museums. Next to the mosque, in a large neo-Byzantine building dating from 1960, is the Byzantine Museum of Ioannina: early Christian and medieval sculptures, pottery, manuscripts, post-Byzantine icons and more. And 100 m to the west, a bastion houses the superb Goldsmiths' Museum run by the Piraeus Bank Foundation: an educational presentation of the long tradition of goldsmiths in Epirus and, upstairs, beautiful gold and silver pieces from the ^18th to the ^20th century.