The 10min crossing to the Island and a 30min walk on its cobblestone alleys will send you picking up echoes of folk songs and psalms of Christians, Jews and Muslims who lived on this land peacefully for centuries!
Ioannina stands as one of the best offbeat escapes in Europe because of Pamvotida Lake, the perfect backdrop for romance, family holidays and city breaks. The Island in Ioannina' lake is one of Europe's few inhabited lake islands, the only inhabited one on the world without a name!
The 10min crossing from the town and a 30min walk on its cobblestone alleys will send you picking up echoes of folk songs and psalms of Christians, Jews and Muslims who lived on this land peacefully for centuries. It is filled with pine trees, unique stone houses, a natural port, full of fishing boats and it is the home of seven monasteries (the third largest group after Mount Athos and Meteora). The greatest one is Stratigopoulos Monastery and Philanthropinos Monastery. Find out the history behind Ali Pasas, you will be astonished!
A Trip for Time - Travelllers!
The boat view is spectacular and visitors feel like they have travelled back in time. With the city at your back, the magnificent Ioannina Castle and the Arslan Mosque start to fade away and they are replaced with the image of a small green island, under the shadows of the surrounding prominent mountains! On a foggy day, it feels like you are part of a fairytale!
With no cars at all, every walk will calm your soul, the chirping of the birds and the sound of the fallen leaves underneath your feet will remind you of the simple pleasures of life. Just a short walk up the hill you'll find panoramic views of the lake and all its fishing boats that will offer you an experience that will stay with you for a while!
Ioannina stands as one of the best offbeat escapes in Europe because of its view-a-licious lake.
Whether it’s strolling hand in hand on its banks, birdwatching, riding a bike in the lightly used rural roads or enjoying your wine and good spirits by the serene waters in the sunset, the turquoise lake (a National Park and Pamvotis by name - a riddle for the literature aficionados) will offer the perfect backdrop for romance, family holidays, congresses and city breaks.
It is only a 10-minute boat trip from Molos, Ioannina to the No Name Island in the middle of Pamvotida Lake but it is a lifetime experience.
You enter the boat and suddenly everything changes as the small trip begins. First you notice the ever-changing views of the surrounding mountains that come closer and closer as they are mirrored in the lake. The horizon grows, water and sky are a single, deep blue. The lake marks the passage into another magical time and fills us with nostalgia.
The boats that tie in Molo, lead you to the Island, a place that never got another name. Just Island. It is the house of Ali Pasha there and also a set of ecclesiastical monuments: Filanthropinon Monastery (1291), Monastery Stratigopoulou (13th cent.), Monastery of Panagia Eleousa (16th c.).
The residents of the island are always ready to tell you stories, traditions and legends. A very good walk is around the island that will relax you and open the appetite to taste local specialties such as frog legs, eels, crayfish etc.
The Church of Ag. Eleftherios is located within the village and on an inscription it is indicated that the year of construction is 1901.
The Monastery is located on the west side of the island, in a short distance from the monastery Philanthropists. Little is known about the history of the institution. It is however very likely founded in the 13th century by the family members of Stratigopoulou, as evidenced by its name.
The Monastery is located on the east side of the island just a short distance from the village. Historical data for the foundation come from the autobiography of brothers Theophanes and Nektarios Apsaras, who came from a mainland noble family, whose members held important offices in the city of Ioannina since the Byzantine era. There is no information on the history of the monastery of St. John after its establishment.
The Monastery is in a short distance, east-southeast of the monastery of the Merciful, with which it was connected, during the last period of operation, after the destruction of the sultan's troops during the siege of Ali Pasha.
In a short distance from the Monateries of Philanthropinon and Diliou, on the west side of the island lies the building complex of the monastery of Merciful Mary. And this monastery was originally dedicated to St. Nicholas, known as the method aton Monastery or Gkioymaton because of the Ioannina's family name known in the period of Turkish rule.
In the island of Ioannina, in the hospitable area of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon, which Ali Pasha had turned into a holiday home, first opened the Museum of the Pre-Revolutionary Period in 1958 thanks to the initiative of enlightened people of Ioannina. The Ali Pasha's and Revolutionary Period Museum, which includes the great collection of Fotis Rapakousis, has been housed in the same space since May 2012.
It is located on the west bank of the island after leaving the settlement. It is an institution of the House of Philanthropenon, one of the families coming from Constantinople that were settled in Ioannina since times of Michael I Komnenos Doukas. Five members of the family are depicted on the north wall of the exonarthex (1560), as owners of the monastery.
According to written sources of the 16th century there was a temple in the same place as early as the 15th century. From this phase, only a fresco with a representation of Supplication, of St. Nikolaos and other saints is preserved on the south wall. Around 1800 the temple was destroyed by a fallen rock.
