Ioánnina (Ioannina) in Greece

Ioannina is the largest city in Epirus (the nortwest part of Greece) and is quite close to the borders to Albania. The city is very beautiful as it has many sights to visit: the lake Pamvotida, the old Castle, small streets with antique stores, etc. In the lake there is also a small island which is called the island of Kyra-Frosyni. There you can taste special delicacies like eels, frog legs and fishes from the lake. Many students live in Ioannina and this adds vibe to the city. In the morning, take a walk at the crowded city center with many stores and at the afternoon go biking by the lake.

You can fly to Ioannina via Athens International Airport. Olympic Air performs 3 routes every day and the duration of the flight is 1 hour. You can book a seat here www.olympicair.com (the sooner you book in advance, the cheaper)

Buses from Athens and Thessaloniki travel to Ioannina every day. From Athens is takes almost 6-7 hours and from Thessaloniki approximately 3 hours. You can see the exact timetables here www.ktelioannina.gr

Ioannina is a city that you can visit at all four seasons. During winter time is a nice stop if you are heading to the villages in the mountains around Ioannina. Spring is the perfect time to visit if you are here for the monuments and the blossomed nature. At summer, the city fills with people that enjoy the cool nights by the lake and want to avoid the busy beaches in other places of Greece. And at the fall, you can walk by the lake and hear the sounds of all the fallen leaves from the trees.

Rain is very often in Ioannina and on the road to the city. So drive carefully and have an umbrella with you just in case, especially if you are visiting from October to April.

The city has two hospitals. The university hospital accepts patients the odd days of the month (26510 99111) and the Xatzikosta Hospital the even days (26510 80111). For pharmacy out of working hours call at 26510 23333.

More than 38.000 years ago there was life in Ioannina, as the signs suggest. Tools made of stone were found in a cave close to the city and they date back to that times. The city was founded on the 6th century by the Byzantine emperor Ioustiniano. Many tribes from the North conquered the city: Bulgarians, Normans, Serbians, Italians and at 1430 the Ottomans. The castle of the city was the center of the commercial lilfe of the city, which continued to produce goods and distribute them under the control of the Ottomans. In 1789, Ioannina became the seat of the Ottoman Pasha that ruled many areas in Greece. After that, the city had a boost of growth, both in economical and cultural grounds.

The locals contributed in the Greek Revolution against the Ottomans in 1821 but didn’t succeed in including their area in the new greek state. That happened after the Balkan Wars, in 1913.

After 1922 and the population exchange with Turkey, many Turkish families left fot Turkey and many greek families came to Ioannina from the west coast cities of Turkey. In 1943, during the occupation of the city by the Nazis, many Jewish families that lived in Ioannina were sent to concentration camps in Poland and Germany. Most of them, never came back.