Monday 6th May 2024 – Ioannina, Greece

 

I chatted with the campsite manager this morning and he explained that the campsite belonged to the local rowing club, the top rowing club in Greece. He took us to see their trophy room and it is totally lined with trophies. They have a number of Olympic medals to their name, including gold in Japan.
We visited Ioannina on our 14 month trip around Europe in 2007/8 (The Odyssey) but didn’t get to the famous island in lake and we wanted to go there this time. The island is uniquely named in that it doesn’t have a name, being called ‘Nisi’, ‘island’ in Greek. The ferries leave from the port next to the castle, so we walked the 20 minutes into the centre and joined the queue. It is a bank holiday today and the trip to Nisi was very popular but the ferries are well geared up with at least five ferries making the short crossing. Within five minutes we were on our way.
The village were the ferry landed was very busy but we had decided to take the walk around the island and were soon clear of the multitude of cafés, restaurants and gift shops. The walk was very pleasant with lovely views across the lake and to the mountains behind. Jane spotted a small snake swimming out across the lake and we wondered where it was going – it was a long way to the next piece of land. The island is also a monastic settlement and we passed two occupied monasteries on our walk.
Returning to the port, we visited the museum of Ali Pasha of Ioannina, an Albanian ruler who served as the Ottoman pasha, controlling southern Albania and a very large part of the Greek mainland. Ali Pasha was very powerful and was courted by many western countries but the Ottomans decided that he was too powerful and declared him a rebel in 1820. He took refuge in a house on Nisi and was put under siege. He was offered his freedom but this was a trick and he was assassinated in the house in 1822. The house now houses the museum and the holes in the floor through which he was shot are on display. Ali Pasha was an interesting ruler, many churches were built under his rule but no mosques. He was tolerant of all religions, was a consummate diplomat and administrator and was very receptive to modern ideas and practices. He rid his land of bandits and strictly enforced law and order. However, he was often cruel and vengeful and when a local woman, a daughter of a local high-status family, had an affair with one of his sons, he condemned her to death by drowning in the lake together with sixteen other women.
We had lunch in a small restaurant, resisting the temptation of trying the local delicacies of eel and frogs legs, before returning on the ferry.
Photos: The rowing club’s trophy room with just a few of their trophies; Admiring the view of the lake from Nisi; A depiction of ‘The Drowning’ in the Ali Pasha Museum; Two families of geese pay us a visit in the campsite.