Visiting Ioannina, Greece: Top Sights on Foot

Looking for things to do in Ioannina? This lakeside city in northwestern mainland Greece combines the history of Epirus with Ottoman and Byzantine landmarks, mountain scenery, and the calm setting of Lake Pamvotida. Its fortified old town and distinctive museums make Ioannina especially rewarding to explore on foot. Neywo has a free audio guide for Ioannina with 27 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

What to See in Ioannina

Ioannina Castle

Ioannina Castle encloses the city’s fortified old town and is one of its defining landmarks. Although much of the fortification was rebuilt under Ali Pasha during the late Ottoman period, earlier Byzantine structures remain within the complex. The result is a layered historic site where different periods of Ioannina’s past can still be read in the walls.

The castle is also home to several important places, including the Aslan Pasha Mosque, Fethiye Mosque, and the Byzantine Museum of Ioannina.

Aslan Pasha Mosque

Built in 1618 during the Ottoman period, the Aslan Pasha Mosque now houses the Municipal Ethnographic Museum of Ioannina. Its present use gives the former mosque a second life as a place for understanding the city’s cultural history.

The building replaced the Church of Saint John, demolished after the unsuccessful uprising of 1611 led by Dionysius the Philosopher. Its restored minaret was destroyed by a Mediterranean cyclone in September 2018 and repaired by August 2019.

Fethiye Mosque

Fethiye Mosque preserves both Byzantine and Ottoman layers of Ioannina’s history. It stands on the site of the Byzantine cathedral dedicated to the Archangel Michael, while the first mosque structure was completed in 1430. The building visible today dates predominantly from 1611 and was extensively renovated in 1795.

The mosque has a single prayer hall beneath a dome, an open portico, and a minaret rising from the southwestern corner. Inside, floral compositions, geometric patterns, Quranic inscriptions, and decorated plasterwork surround the mihrab. Two small Byzantine columns frame it, probably reused from the earlier church.

Kaloutsiani Mosque

The Kaloutsiani Mosque, also known as Tzami Kaloutsianis, is another surviving reminder of Ioannina’s Ottoman-era past. It was completed in 1740 and abandoned in 1913. Restoration began in 2005, with further renovation taking place in the mid-2020s.

Clock Tower of Ioannina

The Clock Tower of Ioannina, also known as the Clock of Ioannina, is a local landmark in the Municipality of Ioannina. It forms part of the city’s historic urban landscape and is one of the narrated stops on Neywo’s walking route.

Municipal Art Gallery of Ioannina

The Municipal Art Gallery of Ioannina has occupied its current building since 2000. Its collection contains more than 500 paintings and sculptures, tracing a movement from classical traditions towards modern artistic expression.

The gallery offers a different perspective on the city’s cultural life, complementing the religious and historic buildings found around the castle and old town.

Lake Pamvotida and the Monasteries Beyond the City

Ioannina lies beside Lake Pamvotida, at the centre of the basin that shares its name. The lake is closely connected with the city’s setting and history, with Mount Mitsikeli rising beyond its waters.

Dourachani Monastery stands beside the lake beneath the mountain, opposite Ioannina Castle. Dedicated to the Nativity of the Theotokos, it is about 11.5 kilometres from the centre of Ioannina and three kilometres from Longades. A local tradition connects its foundation with the Ottoman military commander Dourahan Pasha, who is said to have built the monastery after surviving a dangerous crossing of the frozen lake.

On the slopes of Mount Mitsikeli, near Perivleptos, the Monastery of Perivleptos Pantanassa is better known locally as Stoupaina Monastery. Built in 1724, it stands at an altitude of about 1,000 metres and is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Its single-nave church has four interior domes, eighteenth-century wall paintings, and a carved wooden icon screen. The depiction of the Virgin Mary on the screen is notably stern and commanding.

The Monastery of Agios Nikolaos Filanthopinon is another monastery in the Municipality of Ioannina and forms part of the area’s religious heritage.

Cave of Perama

Beside Lake Pamvotida and about four kilometres from Ioannina, the Cave of Perama offers a journey beneath the city’s mountainous landscape. Its chambers and passageways contain stalactites, stalagmites, curtain-like formations, and groups of columns whose shapes change from room to room.

The cave was discovered by chance in 1940, during the Second World War. Fossilized teeth and bones belonging to cave bears were found there in 1956. The cave covers 14,800 square metres, while the route open to visitors extends for 1,100 metres.

Pavlos Vrellis Greek History Museum

Outside Ioannina, in Bizani, the Pavlos Vrellis Greek History Museum presents Greek history through life-size wax figures and carefully constructed historical settings. The museum was created by the sculptor Pavlos Vrellis, who began the project in February 1983; it opened in 1995.

Around 150 wax models appear in scenes inspired by significant events from Greek history. Rather than displaying figures alone, the museum places them within the settings connected with their stories. The result reflects Vrellis’s personal research and effort to present the people and events of Greek history in context.

Papastathis Bridge

Papastathis Bridge, also known as Papastathi Bridge, is a four-arched stone crossing over the Arachthos River near Ioannina. It stands between Driscos and Anatolike, linking the two places across the river. Its four arches give the bridge a strong, rhythmic outline above the water.

Understanding Ioannina’s History

Ioannina can be traced back to the tenth century and became the leading city of Epirus in 1204. It was taken by the Serbs in 1345 and by the Turks in 1431, before being conquered by the Greeks in 1913.

That history explains the city’s unusual concentration of Byzantine, Ottoman, and modern Greek references. The mosques, castle, monasteries, galleries, and museums are not isolated sights: together, they show how Ioannina developed as the capital and largest city of Epirus.

The wider Ioannina Regional Unit extends beyond the city to places including Konitsa, Metsovo, Zitsa, Kalarrytes, Ancient Dodona, the Zagori villages, and Delvinaki. For travellers continuing through mainland Greece, Parga offers another destination in the country’s northwest, while Kalabaka is another place to consider on a wider journey.

Explore Ioannina with Neywo

Neywo’s free audio guide turns an Ioannina visit into a self-guided walking tour. The city has one walking tour: Ali Pasha’s Citadel and the Four Mosques of Ioannina. It covers 3.61 km, lasts 111 minutes, and includes 10 narrated stops.

The route includes the Aslan Pasha Mosque, Ioannina Castle, Byzantine Museum of Ioannina, Fethiye Mosque, Ioannina Old Synagogue, Municipal Art Gallery of Ioannina, Church of Agios Nicholaos Agoras, Veli Pasha Mosque, Clock Tower of Ioannina, and Kaloutsiani Mosque.

Download Neywo and explore at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, so you can follow the route without a group and without a schedule.