page_title: Ioannina Castle
section_title: Its Kale
hierarchical_section_title: Ioannina Castle / Layout and monuments / Its Kale
caption_attribution_description: English: The Byzantine Museum of Ioannina, with the Fethiye Mosque in the background, in the old citadel (Its Kale) of the city
context_page_description: 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 in the late Ottoman period, but incorporates also pre-existing Byzantine elements.
context_section_description: The southeastern citadel, better known by its Ottoman name "Its Kale" (a Greek rendition of the proper Turkish iç Kale meaning "inner fortress"), forms essentially a separate fortress within the old town, covering an area of ca. 30,000 m². Traditionally its establishment has been ascribed to the occupation of the city by Bohemond in 1082, and the main Byzantine relic of the period, the large circular tower in the centre of the citadel, is known as the Tower of Bohemond. Here too, however, recent excavations have brought to light Hellenistic-era foundations. Literary sources record that in the Byzantine period, the citadel housed the residences of the city's archontes, as well as the cathedral church of the Taxiarches and the church of the Pantokrator.
  Under Ali Pasha, the Its Kale was completely rebuilt and became the main residence of the powerful ruler. It was here that he built his palace (saray), beginning in 1788. The palace is described by European travellers and depicted in a print by W. L. Leitch and engraved by H. Adlard, as a large and complex two-storey structure with many windows giving excellent view to Lake Pamvotis. The palace continued to serve as the city's administrative centre until 1870 when it was torn down, although it had already been badly damaged during the 1821–22 siege by the Sultan's troops that brought about Ali's downfall. Excavations have shown that the selamlik was most likely located on the northern side, with the harem and the women's quarters on the southern. The surviving ruins belong mostly to the southern portion, including the ruins of the circular Tower of Bohemond.
  After the Greek capture of the city in 1913, the site of the main palace complex was later used for the construction of the city's military hospital, which in turn gave way in 1958 to new building, designed by V. Harisis, intended to serve as a royal pavilion. Since 1995 this houses the Byzantine Museum of Ioannina. Next to the museum, on the easternmost and highest part of the citadel, lies the Fethiye Mosque with the tomb of Ali Pasha and one of his wives to the northwest, covered by an iron lattice work. The mosque occupies the space of the city's Byzantine-era cathedral, and was originally built after the Ottoman conquest in 1430. Rebuilt in grander style in the 17th century, its present form dates to its reconstruction by Ali Pasha c. 1795.
  The main surviving part of Ali's palace is the so-called "Treasury" (Θησαυροφυλάκιο) to the north, a square building of unidentified use. A domed space adjacent to it was later converted into the small church of the Holy Unmercenaries (Άγιοι Ανάργυροι). The Treasury was restored in 1989–90 and houses an exhibition on the history and methods of silversmithing in Ioannina and its wider area, for which the region was famous in Ottoman times. Other surviving or excavated structures are the kitchens, dating to the early 19th century, located in the northwestern part of the citadel, which now serve as a refectory; the gunpowder store to the northeast of the Fethiye Mosque, which today serves as an educational space, with a ruined building of unknown purpose between it and the kitchens, as well as the ruined base of another large Byzantine-era circular tower; a large two-storey building northeast of the Treasury, possibly a barracks or an unidentified part of the palace, which survives only in half its original length, and now serves as a cultural and exhibition space; and a small bath complex to the north.
caption: The Fethiye Mosque (left) and the Byzantine Museum (right)
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