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IANNINA (i.e. " the city of St John "...

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 215 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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IANNINA (i.e. " the See also:city of St See also:John "; Gr. Ioannina; Turk Yanid; also written Janina, Jannina, and, according to its Albanian See also:pronunciation, Yanina)  , the See also:capital of the vilayet of See also:Iannina, See also:Albania, See also:European See also:Turkey . Pop . (1905) about 22,000 . The largest ethnical See also:groups in the See also:population are the Albanian and See also:Greek; the purest See also:form of colloquial Greek is spoken here among the wealthy and highly educated See also:merchant families . The position of Iannina is strikingly picturesque . At the See also:foot of the See also:grey See also:limestone See also:mass of See also:Mount Mitzekeli (1500 ft.), which forms See also:part of the See also:fine range of hills See also:running See also:north from the Gulf of See also:Arta, there lies a valley (the Hellopia of antiquity) partly occupied by a See also:lake; and the See also:city is built on the slopes of a slight See also:eminence, stretching down to the western See also:shore . It has greatly declined from the See also:state of barbaric prosperity which it enjoyed from 1788 to 1822, when it was the seat of See also:Ali See also:Pasha (q.v.), and was estimated to have from 30,000 to 50,000 inhabitants . The fortress—Demir Kule or See also:Iron See also:Castle, which, like the See also:principal seraglio, was built on a promontory jutting into the lake—is now in ruins . Bllt,tbe city is the seat of a Greek See also:archbishop, and still possesses many mosques and churches, besides synagogues, a Greek See also:college (gymnasium), a library and a See also:hospital . Sayades (opposite See also:Corfu) and Arta are the places through which it receives its imports . The See also:rich See also:gold and See also:silver See also:embroidery for which the city has See also:long been famous is still one of the notable articles in its See also:bazaar; but the commercial importance of Iannina has notably declined since the cession of Arta and See also:Thessaly to See also:Greece in 1881 . Iannina had previously been one of the See also:chief centres of the Thessalian See also:grain See also:trade; it now exports little except See also:cheese, hides, See also:bitumen and sheepskins to the See also:annual value of about £120,000; the imports, which See also:supply only the See also:local demand for provisions, textile goods, hardware, &c., are See also:worth about See also:double that sum .

The lake of Iannina (perhaps to be identified with the Pambotus or Pambotis of antiquity) is 6 m. long, and has an See also:

area of 24 sq. m., with an extreme See also:depth of less than 35 ft . In See also:time of See also:flood it is See also:united with the smaller lake of Labchistas to the north . There are no affluents of any considerable See also:size, and the only outlets are underground passages or katavothra extending for many See also:miles through the calcareous rocks . The theory supported by W . M . See also:Leake (See also:Northern Greece, See also:London, 1835) that the citadel of Iannina is to be identified with See also:Dodona, is now generally abandoned in favour of the claims of a more See also:southern site . As See also:Anna Comnena, in describing the See also:capture of the See also:town (ra 'Ioavvwa) by Bohemond in 1082, speaks of the walls as being dilapidated, it may be supposed that the See also:place existed before the 11th See also:century . It is mentioned from time to time in the See also:Byzantine See also:annals, and on the See also:establishment of thelordship of See also:Epirus by See also:Michael See also:Angelus See also:Comnenus See also:Ducas, it became his capital . In the See also:middle ages it was successively attacked by Serbs, Macedonians and Albanians; but it was in See also:possession of the successors of Michael when the forces of the See also:Sultan See also:Murad appeared before it in 1430 (cf . See also:Hahn, See also:Alban . Studien, See also:Jena [18541, pp . 319-322) .

Since 1432 it has continued under See also:

Turkish See also:rule . Descriptions of Iannina will be found in See also:Holland's Travels (1815) ; See also:Hughes, Travels in Greece, &c . (183o) ; H . F . Tozer, Researches in the See also:Highlands of Turkey (London, 1869) . See also ALBANIA and the authorities there cited .

End of Article: IANNINA (i.e. " the city of St John "; Gr. Ioannina; Turk Yanid; also written Janina, Jannina, and, according to its Albanian pronunciation, Yanina)
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