The Island (Το Νησί; To Nisi) lies opposite Ioannina, amidst woods and wildflowers in Lake Pamvotis. In the 17th-century, refugees from Peloponnesian Mani built its portside village, where around 300 people still live. The island's secluded monasteries are significant for their unusual frescoes and book collections, while the laneways with old, white-plastered houses lend atmosphere.
Here unfolded the last act in despot Ali Pasha's grand drama. After years of duplicitous double-dealing and brazen challenges the Ottomans decided to eliminate the 82-year-old ‘Lion of Ioannina’ in 1822. Perfidiously assured of a pardon, Ali withdrew with his guard to the island's Moni Panteleimon. There he was trapped and Ottoman soldiers shot him; note the fatal bullethole in the floorboards at the Ali Pasha Museum . An English-language narrrative recounts Ali’s last days, and exhibits personal effects and etchings of the portly pasha in full repose, sitting fat and happy with consort, beard and hookah. To get there, take the main street left from above the port.
The 13th-century Moni Filanthropinon , on the western side, was built by the Filanthropini, a leading Constantinopolitan family fleeing the 1204 Crusader conquest. Its 16th-century frescoes of pagan Greek philosophers Plato, Aristotle and Plutarch sit alongside more suitably Christian personalities. The expressive pathos of the paintings, characteristic of the ‘Epirot School’, has excited art historians. In Ottoman times, it was also a secret school for Christians.
Restaurant Kyra Vasiliki , under a plane tree by the ferry dock, serves grills and some fish. Propodes , under an awning on the Moni Panteleimon path, is fronted by tanks filled with wriggling eels, hopping frogs and crayfish waiting for the kettle. For a quiet drink, walk just downhill from the square to the new Kafeteria Ta Bakakakia , which has juices, milkshakes and more, plus lovely views across the lake to the mountains.
Ioannina's ferry quay has ferries (€2, 10 minutes) from 7am to 11.30pm in summer, and 7am to 10pm in winter. Summer services are every 15 minutes; in winter, only hourly.
