Tuesday, November 11

Ioannina Castle

The Ioannina castle is the fortified old town of the city of Ioannina  in northwestern Greece. The present fortification dates largely to the reconstruction under Ali Pasha Tepelena in the late Ottoman period, but incorporates also pre – existing and ancient Greek elements.
Ioannina is first definitely mentioned in a 1020 decree by the Byzantine emperor Basil II, but it clearly existed for several centuries before. Traditionally the foundation and first fortification of the city have been placed in the 6th century, when the historian Procopius records the construction of a new “well – fortified” city by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I for the inhabitants of ancient Euroia. This view is not supported, however by any concrete archaeological evidence. Early 21st century excavations further more have brought to light fortifications dating to the Helen period( 4th – 3rd  centuries BC), the course of which was largely followed by later reconstruction of the fortress in the Byzantine Ottoman periods.  The Greek archaeologist K. Tsoures dated the Byzantine city walls and the northeastern citadel to the 10th century, with additions in the late 11th century, including the southeastern citadel, traditionally ascribed to the short – lived occupation of the city by the Normans under the leadership of Bohemond of Taranto.
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the town’s history was turbulent. It became part of the Byzantine Greek successor stae of Epirus, fell to the restored Palaiologan   Byzantine Empire in 1319, and was captured by the Serbian ruler Stefan Dushan in 1346. The Florentine adventure Esau de Boundelmonti captured the city from its Serbian rulers in 1385, to be followed by the Tocco family, rulers of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1411 until the capture of the city from Ottoman Empire on 9 October 1430. In the years immediately after 1204, the city walls  and the northeastern citadel were reconstructed, while further reconstruction was undertaken in 1367 – 1384.
The city remained under Ottoman rule from 1430 until captured by Greece in the First Balkan War in 1913. It enjoyed considerable prosperity, and reached the height of its pre – eminence under the rule of Ali Pasha Tepelena, who became the ruler of a large semi autonomous state encompassing much of modern – day Greece and Albania between 1787 and his downfall and execution in 1822. It is to the period of Ali Pasha Tepelena’s rule  that the present fro the castle largely dates the modifications or repairs undertaken on the Byzantine walls by previous Ottoman governors are now no longer discernible, as Ali pasha Tepelena initiated a wide – ranging reconstruction of the walls in the early 19th century, which was completed in 1815. It incorporated, as far as possible the pre – existing  Byzantine fortifications, while adding a new wall in front. The interval was filled up with rubble or provided with arched galleries, forming a large terraced  surface on top on which cannon could be installed.

The castle is located on the southeastern corner of the modern city, on top of a rocky promontory jutting into Pamvotis Lake. The castle is dominated by its two citadels, already established by the late 11th century as recorded in Anna Komnene’s Alexiad, the northeastern citadel now dominated by the Ottoman Aslan Pasha Mosque and the much larger southeastern citadel, known as the Its Kale The main surviving part of Ali pasha Tepelena’s palace is the  so – called “Treasury”.
Ioannina is an Albanian country taken by the Greece in end of First World War with other countries of Albania still Arta Bay.