The castle of Ioannina is located in the southeastern part of the city, on a rocky peninsula on lake Pamvotis. Its current form dates back to the late Ottoman period with many elements of the earlier Byzantine fortification which is based on a fortress from the Hellenistic period.

History

Ioannina is first mentioned by the sources in 879 when the bishop Zacharias participated in the Synod of Constantinople.

In 1082, the Norman Bohemond , son of the Duke of Sicily Robert Guiscard, added one citadel to the ruins of the Byzantine fortification and dug a fortification trench. (Bohemond later became one of the leaders of the 1st Crusade and much later prince “Bohemond I of Antioch”).

Ioannina flourished following the Fourth Crusade and the Fall of 1204, when many wealthy Byzantine families fled there in the early 13th century following the sack of Constantinople. It was the capital of the Despotate of Epirus from 1358 to 1416, before surrendering to the Ottomans in 1430. Between 1430 and 1868 the city was the administrative center of the Pashalik of Yanina. The most notorious figure during this period was Ali pasha. Ali rebuilt the fortification walls and built a second internal wall to protect his palace and the seat of his administration.

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

The perimeter of the walls is 2000m enclosing a surface of 20 hectares. The walls remain in relatively good condition reaching a height between 8.85m to 13.69m. In the Byzantine era the this fortifications encircled the whole city.

In the castle there are two inner fortresses. One in the northeastern corner and one in the southeastern corner. The surface of the castle outside the two keeps is occupied by houses of the old city. A modern district within the walls.

The northeastern keep was the original core of the Byzantine castle. There are some traces of the Byzantine wall here, but the space is dominated by the mosque of Aslan pasha.

The southeastern keep is the fortress built by the Normands. Here is the 13m high tower of “Bohemund ” and remains of the palace of Ali pasha. Also here is the Fethiye mosque and the tomb of Ali pasha.

Layout of the Castle of Ioannina

Sources