Ioannina
Ioannina ( ), often called Yannena ( ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the city population was 65,574, while the municipality had 112,486 inhabitants. Ten years later, the population of the city had seen a minor increase to 113,978 inhabitants. It lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level, on the western shore of Lake Pamvotis (). Ioannina is located northwest of Athens, southwest of Thessaloniki and east of the port of Igoumenitsa on the Ionian Sea. The city's foundation has traditionally been ascribed to the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD, but modern archaeological research has uncovered evidence of Hellenistic settlements. Ioannina flourished in the late Byzantine period (13th–15th centuries). It became part of the Despotate of Epirus following the Fourth Crusade and many wealthy Byzantine families fled there following the sack of Constantinople, with the city experiencing great prosperity and considerable autonomy, despite the political turmoils. Ioannina surrendered to the Ottomans in 1430 and until 1868 it was the administrative center of the Pashalik of Yanina. In the period between the 18th and