Places to see
The activities bring us closer to you, so we make sure
we have the best ones, in order to create a good and pleasant mood .
Ancient Theatre of Dodona – Pavlos Vrellis Museum of Wax Effigies – Perama Cave
An experience that every visitor of the city of Ioannina should have.
Itinerary
09.00 Pickup from the hotel reception.
09.40 – 11.00 Visit to the ancient theater – museum of Dodona.
11.30 – 01.00 Pavlos Vrellis Museum of Wax Effigies.
13.00 – 14.00 Coffee break-snack.
14.30 – 16.00 Perama Cave.
The entry-tour fee is not included in the price.
The city of legends
is full of attractions worth visiting.
Some of them will be mentioned below.
The island of Ioannina
The “islet” of Ioannina is one of the few worldwide inhabited islands within a lake. The visitor can admire the elaborate Byzantine monasteries with their exquisite frescoes, the traditional architecture of the buildings, the narrow cobbled streets and the verdant natural environment. On the islet is also the house – last refuge of Ali Pasha, where today it functions as a museum, reviving with its exhibits the legend of the lady – Frosyn and the end of Ali – Pasha. Opening hours: 08.00 to 11.00 (winter season) and 08.00 to 23.00 (summer season).
On the small island you can taste unique delicacies such as eels and frog legs and wander through the narrow streets admiring the Ioannitian folk art shops. The connection to the city of Ioannina is made by small boats that depart from the pier every half hour in the summer months (08.00 – 24.00) and every hour in the winter months (08.00 – 22.00) with a journey time of less than ten minutes and a cost of two euros .
The castle of Ioannina
The current form of the Castle of Ioannina is for the most part a work of the Ottoman era, with integrated older Byzantine building phases. Two citadels are formed inside the Castle.
In the northeastern acropolis, the palaces of the Byzantine rulers of the city were built. Today it is dominated by mosque of Aslan Pasha (1618). The second citadel to the southeast is known as Ich-Kale, i.e. inner fortress. In its center and in the position where it was in the 19th century. the seraglios of Ali Pasha there is the Byzantine Museum and near it the Fethiye Mosque (1795) and the tomb of Ali Pasha.
Inside the Castle and among the houses of the settlement, the Soufari Sarai (cavalry school of Ali Pasha), the Turkish library, the Jewish synagogue, the ruins of the Byzantine Bath, the house of Pasha Kalos (in the walls of the Castle) are preserved. Witnesses of the Byzantine past are also the so-called tower of Bohemund in the south-eastern acropolis and the tower of Thomas, to the right of the main gate of the Castle.
Perama Cave
One of the most important caves of the world is located just four km from the center of Ioannina. The existence of the cave was already known from the beginning of the last century, in 1940 it was even used as a shelter for the inhabitants during the bombings by the Italians.
In 1945, the first scientific mapping was carried out by the well-known couple of speleologists Anna and Ioannis Petrochilou, who had also explored other well-known caves in Greece. It is a horizontal cave with path length of 1 km. The various formations of stalagmites and stalactites, the wealth and the combination of colors create an unsurpassed natural beauty.
Transportation: City Public Bus, Ioannina-Perama line, starting point next to the city-clock.
Opening Hours: 8:00-19:00 daily.
Phone: 26510-81521
Ancient Dodona
The archaeological site of Dodona, known for its panhellenic reputation, is one of the greatest ancient sanctuaries, preserved in a condition that helps us understand a lot of things about its function and utility.
The origins of the sanctuary go back to the Bronze Age (2,600 – 1,200 BC). In the 4th pre-Christian century, the first temple and holy house began to be built there. However, the sanctuary was radically renovated in the 3rd century BC. during the reign of Pyrrhus. Then the rectory, the parliament building and the theater were built.
The access to this wonderful site is easy. By car is 22 km of a comfortable route from Ioannina via Egnatia Motorway, and the traveler will easily reach his destination following the road signs. Another option is to take the public bus from the KTEL of Ioannina to Dodona.
Ticket price: general entrance 2€
Opening hours: During the Winter season from Nov 1 – Mar 3, 8:30-15:00 and Summer season from June 2 – October 31, daily 8:00-19:00
Pavlos Vrellis Museum of Wax Effigies
at the 14th km of the Ioannina-Athens highway, near Bizani, is the museum of wax figures of the sculptor Pavlos Vrellis.
The museum’s wax effigies, life-size and integrated into a faithful representation of the environment of their time, bring figures of recent history back to life.
There are three thematic sections of the Museum: the Pre-Revolutionary period (the Hidden School, the founding of the Friendly Society, the martyrdom of Dionysios Skylosofos, etc.), events of 1821 (the Thieves, the death of Ali Pasha, etc.) and images from World War II (the women of Pindos, etc.).
Phone: 26510-92128
Opening hours: 10:00-16:00 during the winter season and 09:30-17:00 during the summer season.
Byzantine Museum of Ioannina
The main building of the museum was constructed during the 1960s and originally functioned as a royal pavilion inside the citadel of Ioannina Castle.
The museum was opened to the public in 1995. The silverware collection is housed in a 19th century building of the citadel. The museum is going to be expanded to other buildings of the citadel.
The collections it includes are: Collection of early Christian & Byzantine sculptures, Collection of excavation findings from Arta, Collection of ceramics, Collection of books and paleotypes, Collection of post-Byzantine icons, Collection of silversmithing.
Phone: 2651-25989, 39580.
The Ali Pasha Museum
On the picturesque island of the lake of Ioannina there is the building of the monastery of Agios Panteleimon, where Ali Pasha was murdered. It has been designed in a traditional Ioannina house and hosts various objects of daily life from earlier times which are available for visitors to admire.
Your attention will be drawn to the painting depicting the handover of Ali Pasha’s head to the Sultan. In the space you will also see portraits and scenes from his life. We were rescued by tourists who had visited his yard. Most visitors are impressed by the opening in the floor where the bullet that killed him is thought to have gone through.
In the same area you will also find various small items as well as related books that you can buy. It is therefore worth taking the boat from the city pier and crossing to the islet which hides wonderful things that you must discover, among them the house full of history of Ali Pasha.
Agios Paisios – His father's house in Konitsa
Saint Paisios the Agiorite by world Arsenios Eznepidis was born in Farasa in Cappadocia on July 25, 1924 AD, a few days before the Farasiots fled from their homeland for Greece.
In Greece, the family of little Arsenios settled in Konitsa, Epirus, where he spent his childhood and youth. As he writes: “I grew up in my now Heroic Homeland of Konitsa” After the circular studies at the 1st Primary School of Konitsa, he did not want to continue in letters, and learned the art of carpentry, which he practiced diligently and skillfully. In 1949, she went to Mount Athos, looking for a guide for the life of God’s peace. However, he did not succeed in immediately fulfilling his desire.
At the same time, his family found themselves in great financial difficulty at the same time, so they called him to help them. So, he returned to Konitsa and worked as a carpenter. However, after 3 years (1953 AD), at the age of 29, he abandoned the things of the world and returned to the Athonian State.
On March 12, 1956 AD in the Holy Monastery of Philotheou, he became a small monk and received the name “Paisios. In August 1958 AD, obeying divine counsel, he did not settle in the desert, for which he was preparing, but in the destroyed Holy Monastery of Panagia tou Stomio, located near Konitsa. He lived there for 4 years, living an angelic life, renovating the Monastery with great effort.
In 1962 AD, he received as a divine invitation the invitation of a priest to accompany him to the divine Mount Sinai. On that arid and dry place, in the cell of Saints Galaction and Science, he finally lived what he longed for, the isolation towards God.
There would be no reason, then, for him to leave that stage of virtue, if—phew! – was not incited by the physical illness from the harsh climate, which forced him to return to his physical homeland. Returning to Mount Athos in 1964 AD, he stayed until the end of his life.
After 1993 AD he was bleeding for which he refused to be treated saying that “everything will settle down with the soil”. In November of the same year, he left Mount Athos for the last time and went to Souroti, to the Hermitage of Saint John the Theologian for the feast of Saint Arsenios (November 10). He stayed there for a few days and while he was preparing to leave, he fell ill and fell asleep on Tuesday, July 12, 1994 AD. and time 11:00. He was buried in the same Sanctuary and his grave is constantly visited by thousands of people from all over the world.
