A Brief History of Ancient Ioannina Ioannina is the capital of the Epirus region of Greece. This is the northwest region of the country and extends from the Pindus Mountains to the Ionian Sea. The region is divided into four administrative areas, of which Ioannina is one. According to an ancient text by the historian, Procopius, the Emperor Justinian founded the city of Ioannina in 527. After the Romans, the city was held by the Byzantine Christians, the Franks, followed by intermittent conquests by the Bulgarians, Serbians and Albanians. The first period of true prosperity of Ioannina was in the 11 century, when Michael Komninos founded the Despotate of Epirus, and the city was established as the region's intellectual center...this is the approximate time we begin to see evidence of a Jewish community in Ioannina, although the oral Romaniote tradition says there was a Jewish presence since antiquity. There is, however, no evidence of this. This reign of prosperity lasted some 250 years. In 1430, the city surrendered to the Ottoman Turks and their considerable influence continued into the modern era. During the reign of Ali Pasha, 1788-1822, Ioannina once again enjoyed economic and intellectual growth. On February 12, 1912, the city of Ioannina was liberated from the Turks by the Greek army and became part of the Greek State. The archeological site at Dodoni, just to the southeast of Ioannina, is an important historical find, and is perhaps the oldest in Greece. Evidence there dates to the Bronze Age, and indicates the area was settled around 2500 BC by the first Greek tribes. Homer tells that in the 18 century BC the valley of Ioannina was inhabited by the Hellopes, a clan of priests and prophets dedicated to the service of the mythical god, Zeus. Scholars maintain the word, “Hellene”, meaning, “Greek”, may actually be rooted to the ancient Hellopes. It was here, in the valley of Ioannina, that the ancients established their first oracle. The prophecies from this oracle took a number of forms, depending upon the historical period. In it's first form; the oracle spoke through the flights of pigeons. Secondly, the oracle revealed itself through the rustling leaves of the sanctuary's ancient oak tree. In it's final, most elaborate form, a bronze statue of a young boy held wooden batons in it's hands; the blowing wind caused the batons to strike a row of copper cauldrons...a priest would then interpret the vibrations as the will of Zeus, the father of gods.