Ioannina trip planner

Ioannina, often called Yannena within Greece, is the capital and largest city of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece, with a population of 112,486 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500m above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis. It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the capital of Ioannina regional unit and the region of Epirus. Ioannina is located 450km northwest of Athens, 290km southwest of Thessaloniki and 80km east of the port of Igoumenitsa in the Ionian Sea.Founded by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD, Ioannina flourished following the Fourth Crusade, when many wealthy Byzantine families fled there in the early 13th century following the sack of Constantinople. It was part 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. In the period between the 16th and 19th centuries, the city was a major center of the modern Greek Enlightenment. Ioannina joined Greece in 1913 following the Balkan Wars.