Ioannina Castle, Fortified old town in Ioannina, Greece

Ioannina Castle is the walled old town of Ioannina, set on a rocky promontory jutting into Lake Pamvotis. Its light-grey and light-brown limestone walls, rebuilt by Ali Pasha and completed in 1815, enclose two citadels: the northeastern one, about 6,000 m2, and the larger Its Kale to the southeast, about 30,000 m2. A tall square tower with corner battlements and a tall arched gateway with an inner passage stand in the circuit.

Ioannina is first documented in a 1020 decree of Basil II, but its walls are older: excavations revealed Hellenistic fortifications (4th–3rd c. BC) whose course later rebuilding followed. K. Tsoures dated the Byzantine walls and northeastern citadel to the 10th century; the southeastern citadel is traditionally ascribed to Bohemond of Taranto's occupation in 1082. Ali Pasha rebuilt the walls in the early 19th century, completing them in 1815.

The northeastern citadel's church of Saint John was demolished after the 1611 uprising of Dionysius the Philosopher and replaced in 1618 by the Aslan Pasha Mosque complex, with the founder's tomb, a madrasah and a kitchen. The mosque now houses the Municipal Ethnographic Museum of Ioannina.

The main castle grounds are free to explore with clear paths along the walls and through inner sections. Some exhibitions or museums located within the complex may require separate admission, so check ahead if these interest you.

The large circular tower at the centre of Its Kale is called the Tower of Bohemond, after the Norman leader who took the city in 1082. Excavations in the citadel have also uncovered foundations from the Hellenistic period, showing the site was fortified long before Byzantines or Ottomans.