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Epirus (region)
Encyclopedia
Epirus ɨˈpaɪrəs is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece
and Albania
. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea
, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf
in the south. It is currently divided between the region of Epirus
in northwestern Greece
and the counties of Gjirokastër
, Vlorë
, and Berat
in southern Albania
. The largest city in Epirus is Ioannina
, seat of the region of Epirus, with Gjirokastër
the largest city in the Albanian part of Epirus.
A rugged and mountainous region, Epirus lay on the periphery of the ancient Greek world
. It was inhabited by the Greek tribes of the Chaonians
, Molossians
, and Thesprotians
, and home to the sanctuary of Dodona
, the oldest ancient Greek oracle
, and the most prestigious one after Delphi
. Unified into a single state
in 370 BC by the Aeacidae
dynasty, Epirus achieved fame during the reign of Pyrrhus I of Epirus, whose campaigns against Rome
are the origin of the term "Pyrrhic victory
". Epirus subsequently became part of the Roman Empire
along with the rest of Greece in 146 BC, which was followed by the Byzantine Empire
. Following the fall of Constantinople
to the Fourth Crusade
, Epirus became the center of the Despotate of Epirus
, one of the successor states to the Byzantine Empire. Conquered by the Ottoman Empire
in the 15th century, Epirus became semi-independent during the rule of Ali Pasha
in the early 19th century, but the Ottomans re-asserted their control in 1821. Following the Balkan Wars
and World War I
, southern Epirus became part of Greece
, while northern Epirus
became part of the newly created state of Albania
.
The name Epirus comes from , Ēpeiros (in both Doric Greek
and the native Northwestern Greek: , Ápeiros), meaning "mainland". It is thought to come from an Indo-European
root 'coast', and was originally applied to the mainland opposite Corfu
and the Ionian islands
. Epirus for the Greeks represented the "epitome" of a hardy, often inhospitable land that was unsuited for cultivation and therefore needed hard labor to yield a livelihood; hence it was called "εὔάνδρος" (eýandros, i.e. [land] of hardy -literally: "good"- men). The local name was stamped on the coinage of the unified Epirote commonwealth
: ΑΠΕΙΡΟΤΑΝ (Āpeirōtān, Attic Greek equivalent: Ēpeirōtōn, i.e. "of the Epirotes", see image right). The Albanian
name for the region is Epiri, deriving from the Greek.
The historical region of Epirus is generally regarded as extending from the northern end of the Ceraunian mountains
(modern Llogara in Albania), located just south of the Bay of Aulon (modern Vlorë
), to the Ambracian Gulf
(or Gulf of Arta
) in Greece. The northern boundary of ancient Epirus is alternatively given as the mouth of the Aoös (or Vjosë
) river, immediately to the north of the Bay of Vlorë. Epirus' eastern boundary is defined by the Pindus Mountains, that form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia
and Thessaly
. To the west, Epirus faces the Ionian Sea
. The island of Corfu
is situated off the Epirote coast but is not regarded as part of Epirus.
The definition of Epirus has changed over time, such that modern administrative boundaries do not correspond to the boundaries of ancient Epirus. The region of Epirus
in Greece only comprises a fraction of classical Epirus and does not include its easternmost portions, which lie in Thessaly
. In Albania, where the concept of Epirus is never used in an official context, the counties of Gjirokastër
, Vlorë
, and Berat
extend well beyond the northern and northeastern boundaries of classical Epirus.
Epirus is a predominantly rugged and mountainous region. It is largely made up of the Pindus Mountains, a series of parallel limestone
ridges that are a continuation of the Dinaric Alps
. The Pindus mountains form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia
and Thessaly
to the east. The ridges of the Pindus are parallel to the sea and generally so steep that the valleys between them are mostly suitable for pasture rather than large-scale agriculture. Altitude increases as one moves east, away from the coast, reaching a maximum of 2637m at Mount Smolikas
, the highest point in Epirus. Other important ranges include Tymfi
(2496 at Mount Gamila), Lygkos
(2249m), to the west and east of Smolikas respectively, Gramos
(2523m) in the northeast, Tzoumerka (2356m) in the southeast, Tomaros (1976m) in the southwest, Mitsikeli
near Ioannina
(1810m), Mourgana (1806m) and Nemercke/Aeoropos
(2485m) on the border between Greece and Albania, and the Ceraunian Mountains
(2000m) near Himara in Albania. Most of Epirus lies on the windward side of the Pindus, and the prevailing winds from the Ionian Sea make the region the rainiest in mainland Greece.
Significant lowlands are to be found only near the coast, in the southwest near Arta
and Preveza
, in the Acheron plain between Paramythia
and Fanari
, between Igoumenitsa
and Sagiada
, and also near Saranda. The Zagori
area is a scenic upland plateau surrounded by mountain on all sides.
The main river flowing through Epirus is the Vjosë
(Aoös in Greek), which flows in a northwesterly direction from the Pindus mountains in Greece to its mouth north of the Bay of Vlorë in Albania. Other important rivers include the Acheron river
, famous for its religious significance in ancient Greece and site of the Necromanteion
, the Arachthos river
, crossed by the historic Bridge of Arta
, the Louros
, the Thyamis or Kalamas, and the Voidomatis, a tributary of the Vjosë flowing through the Vikos Gorge
. The Vikos Gorge, one of the deepest in the world, forms the centerpiece of the Vikos–Aoös National Park, known for its scenic beauty. The only significant lake in Epirus is Lake Pamvotis, on whose shores lies the city of Ioannina
, the region's largest and traditionally most important city.
The climate of Epirus is mediterranean
along the coast and alpine
in the interior. Epirus is heavily forested, mainly by coniferous species. The fauna in Epirus is especially rich and features species such as bear
s, wolves, fox
es, deer
and lynx
es.
Epirus has been occupied since at least Neolithic
times by seafarers along the coast and by hunters and shepherds in the interior who brought with them the Greek language
. These people buried their leaders in large tumuli containing shaft graves, similar to the Mycenaean tombs, indicating an ancestral link between Epirus and the Mycenean civilization. A number of Mycenaean remains have been found in Epirus, especially at the most important ancient religious sites in the region, the Necromanteion
(Oracle of the Dead) on the Acheron
river, and the Oracle of Zeus
at Dodona
.
In the Middle Bronze Age, Epirus was inhabited by the same nomadic Hellenic tribes that went on to settle in the rest of Greece. Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas
and the region where the Hellenes originated. According to linguist V. I. Georgiev
, Epirus was part of the Proto-Greek
linguistic area. By the early 1st millennium BC
, the population of Epirus consisted of three principal clusters of Greek-speaking tribes: the Chaonians
in northwestern Epirus, the Molossians
in the centre and the Thesprotians
in the south.
s, the inhabitants of Epirus lived in small villages and their way of life was foreign to that of the poleis
of southern Greece. Their region lay on the periphery of the Greek world and was far from peaceful; for many centuries, it remained a frontier
area contested with the Illyrian peoples to the north. However, Epirus had a far greater religious significance than might have been expected given its geographical remoteness, due to the presence of the shrine and oracle at Dodona
- regarded as second only to the more famous oracle at Delphi
.
The Epirotes, speakers of a Northwest Greek dialect, different from the Dorian
of the Greek colonies on the Ionian islands, and bearers of mostly Greek names, as evidenced by epigraphy, seem to have been regarded with some disdain by some classical writers. The 5th century BC Athenian historian Thucydides
describes them as "barbarians", as does Strabo
. Other writers, such as Herodotus
, Dionysius of Halicarnassus
, Pausanias
and Eutropius, describe them as Greeks. Similarly, Epirote tribes/states are included in the Argive
and Epidaurian
lists of the Greek Thearodokoi (hosts of sacred envoys). Plutarch
mentions an interesting element of Epirote folklore regarding Achilles: In his biography of King Pyrrhus
, he claims that Achilles "had a divine status in Epirus and in the local dialect he was called Aspetos" (meaning unspeakable, unspeakably great, in Homeric Greek
).
Beginning in 370 BC, the Molossian Aeacidae
dynasty built a centralized state in Epirus
and began expanding their power at the expense of rival tribes. The Aeacids allied themselves with the increasingly powerful kingdom of Macedon
, in part against the common threat of Illyrian
raids, and in 359 BC the Molossian princess Olympias
, niece of Arybbas of Epirus, married King Philip II of Macedon
. She was to become the mother of Alexander the Great.
On the death of Arybbas, Alexander of Epirus succeeded to the throne and the title King of Epirus
in 334 BC. He invaded Italy, but was killed in battle by the Romans in 331 BC. Aeacides of Epirus
, who succeeded Alexander, espoused the cause of Olympias against Cassander
, but was dethroned in 313 BC. His son Pyrrhus
came to throne in 295 BC, and for six years fought against the Romans
and Carthaginians in southern Italy
and Sicily
. The high cost of his victories against the Romans gave Epirus a new, but brief, importance, as well as a lasting contribution to the Greek language with the concept of a "Pyrrhic victory
". Pyrrhus nonetheless brought great prosperity to Epirus, building the great theater of Dodona
and a new suburb at Ambracia
(now modern Arta
), which made his capital.
The Aeacid dynasty ended in 232 BC, but Epirus remained a substantial power, unified under the auspices of the Epirote League as a federal state with its own parliament, or synedrion. However, it was faced with the growing threat of the expansionist Roman Republic
, which fought a series of wars against Macedon
. The League steered an uneasy neutral course in the first two Macedonian Wars but split in the Third Macedonian War
(171 BC
-168 BC
), with the Molossians siding with the Macedonians and the Chaonians and Thesprotians siding with Rome. The outcome was disastrous for Epirus; Molossia fell to Rome in 167 BC
, 150,000 of its inhabitants were enslaved, and the region was so thoroughly plundered that it took 500 years for central Epirus to recover fully.
The Roman conquest marked the end of Epirus' political independence. In 146 BC
, Epirus became part of the province of Roman Macedonia
, receiving the name Epirus vetus ("Old Epirus"), to distinguish it from Epirus nova ("New Epirus") to the north. Its coastal regions grew wealthy from the Roman coastal trade routes, and the construction of the Via Egnatia
provided a further boost to prosperity.
When the Roman Empire was divided in two in 395 AD, Epirus became part of the Eastern Roman Empire (subsequently the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire
), ruled from Constantinople
. The city of Ioannina
was likely founded in the 6th century AD. In the Early Middle Ages
, Slavic tribes are believed to have settled in the region, though the extent of such settlement is unclear. These tribes are believed to have been completely hellenized
by the eve of the 13th century, if not before. Epirus was part of the First Bulgarian Empire
in the 9th and 10th centuries, but Byzantine control was re-asserted following the destruction of the First Bulgarian Empire by Basil II. An Aromanian
presence in Epirus is first mentioned in the late 11th century. Jewish communities are attested throughout the medieval period in Arta
and Ioannina.
When Constantinople
fell to the Fourth Crusade
in 1204, Michael Angelos Komnenos Ducas seized Aetolia
and Epirus and established an independent state known as the Despotate of Epirus
with Arta
as its capital. Epirus, and the city of Ioannina in particular, became a haven for Greek refugees from Constantinople for most of the century. The rulers of the Despotate at times controlled an area corresponding to mainland Greece west of the Pindus, much of modern Albania and at time parts of Macedonia
and Thessaly
. During this time, the definition of Epirus came to encompass the entire coastal region from the Ambracian Gulf
to Dyrrachium (modern-day Durrës
, in Albania). Some of the most important cities in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër
(Argyrokastron), were founded during this period. In 1337, Epirus was once again brought under Byzantine imperial rule.
In 1348, taking advantage of the civil war
in Constantinople
between John V Palaiologos
and John VI Kantakouzenos
, the Serbian King Stefan Uroš IV Dušan conquered Epirus, with a number of Albanian
mercenaries assisting him. It is during this time that an Albanian presence in Epirus is first mentioned. The Byzantine
authorities in Constantinople soon re-established a measure of control by making the Despotate of Epirus a vassal state
, but meanwhile Albanian clans invaded, seized most of the region, and founded two local, short-lived entities, centered in Arta
(1358–1416) and Gjirokastër
(1386–1411) by the Losha and Zenebishi clans, respectively. Only the city of Ioannina remained under Greek control during this time. Although Albanian clans gained control of most of the region of Epirus by 1366-7, they didn't replace any Greek or Serbian central authority in the region but remained divided in clans. Ioannina became a center of Greek resistance, and the Greeks of Ioannina offered power to three foreign rulers during this time, beginning with Thomas II Preljubović
(1367–1384), followed by Esau de' Buondelmonti
(1385–1411), and finally Carlo I Tocco
. (1411–1429). The latter finally succeeded in ending the rule of the Albanian clans and unifying Epirus. But internal dissension eased the Ottoman conquest, which proceeded with the capture of Ioannina in 1430, Arta in 1449, Angelokastro in 1460, and finally Vonitsa in 1479. With the exception of several coastal Venetian possessions, this was the end of Frankish rule in mainland Greece.
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Epirus was ruled by the Ottomans
for almost 500 years. Ottoman rule in Epirus proved particularly damaging; the region was subjected to deforestation and excessive cultivation, which damaged the soil and drove many Epirotes to emigrate so as to escape the region's pervasive poverty. Nonetheless, the Ottomans did not enjoy total control of Epirus. The Himara and Zagori
regions managed to successfully resist Ottoman rule and maintained a degree of independence throughout this period. In 1443, the northernmost part of Epirus was briefly conquered by George Kastrioti Skenderbeg as part of his revolt against the Ottoman Empire, but on his death it fell to Venice
. The Ottomans expelled the Venetians from almost the whole area in the late 15th century.
In the period between the 16th and 19th centuries, the city of Ioannina attained great prosperity and became a major center of the modern Greek Enlightenment. Numerous schools were founded, such as the Balaneios, Maroutsaia
, Kaplaneios
, and Zosimaia
, teaching subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics and physical sciences. In the 18th century, as the power of the Ottoman Empire declined, Epirus became a de facto independent region under the despotic rule of Ali Pasha
of Tepelena, a Muslim Albanian
brigand who rose to become the provincial governor of Ioannina in 1788. At the height of his power, he controlled all of Epirus, and much of the Peloponnese
, central Greece, and parts of western Macedonia
Ali Pasha's campaign to subjugate the confederation of the settlements of Souli
met with fierce resistance by the Souliot
warriors of the mountainous area. After numerous failed attempts to defeat the Souliotes, his troops succeeded in conquering the area in 1803. On the other hand, Ali, who used Greek as official language, witnessed an increase of Greek cultural activity with the establishment of several educational institutions.
When the Greek War of Independence
broke out, the inhabitants of Epirus contributed greatly. Two of the founding members of the Filiki Eteria
(the secret society of the Greek revolutionaries), Nikolaos Skoufas
and Athanasios Tsakalov, came from the Arta
area and the city of Ioannina
, respectively. Greece's first constitutional prime minister (1844–1847), Ioannis Kolettis
, was a native of the village of Syrrako in Epirus and was a former personal physician to Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha tried to use the war as an opportunity to make himself a fully independent ruler, but was assassinated by Ottoman agents in 1822. When Greece became independent in 1830, however, Epirus remained under Ottoman rule. In 1854, during the Crimean War
, a major local rebellion broke out
. Although the newly found Greek state tried tacitly to support it, the rebellion was suppressed by Ottoman forces after a few months. Another failed rebellion by local Greeks broke out in 1878
. During this period, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
managed to shut down the few Albanian schools, considering teaching in Albanian a factor that would diminish its influence and lead to the creation of separate Albanian church, while publications in Albanian were banned by the Ottoman Empire. In the late 19th century, the Kingdom of Italy opened various schools in the regions of Ioannina
and Preveza
in order to influence the local population. These schools began to attract students from the Greek language schools, but were ultimately closed after intervention and harassment by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Throughout, the late period of Ottoman rule (from 18th century) Greek and Aromanian population of the region suffered from Albanians raiders, that sporadically continued after Ali Pasha's death, until 1912-1913.
While the Treaty of Berlin (1878) awarded large parts of Epirus to Greece, opposition by the Ottomans and the League of Prizren
resulted in only the region of Arta
being ceded to Greece in 1881. It was only following the First Balkan War
of 1912–1913 and the Treaty of London that the rest of southern Epirus, including Ioannina
, was incorporated into Greece. Greece had also seized northern Epirus during the Balkan Wars
, but the Treaty of Bucharest, which concluded the Second Balkan War
, assigned Northern Epirus
to Albania.
This outcome was unpopular among local Greeks, as a substantial Greek population existed on the Albanian side of the border. Among Greeks, northern Epirus
was henceforth regarded as terra irredenta
. Local Greeks in northern Epirus revolted, declared their independence
and proclaimed the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
in February 1914. After fierce guerrilla fighting, they managed to gain full autonomy under the terms of the Protocol of Corfu
, signed by Albanian and Northern Epirote representatives and approved by the Great Powers. The signing of the Protocol ensured that the region would have its own administration, recognized the rights of the local Greeks and provided self government under nominal Albanian sovereignty. The Republic, however, was short-lived, as when World War I
broke out, Albania collapsed, and northern Epirus was alternately controlled by Greece, Italy and France at various intervals. Although short-lived, this state managed to leave behind a number of historical records of its existence, including its own postage stamps; see Postage stamps and postal history of Epirus
.
Although the Paris Peace Conference
of 1919 awarded Northern Epirus to Greece, developments such as the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War and, crucially, Italian lobbying in favor of Albania meant that Greece would not keep Northern Epirus. In 1924, the area was again ceded to Albania.
In 1939, Italy occupied Albania
, and in 1940 invaded Greece
. The Italians were driven back into Albania, however, and Greek forces again took control of northern Epirus. The conflict marked the first tactical victory of the Allies
in World War II
. Benito Mussolini
himself supervised the massive counter-attack of his divisions in spring 1941, only to be decisively defeated again by the poorly equipped, but determined, Greeks. Nazi Germany
then intervened
in April 1941 to avert an embarrassing, wholesale Italian defeat. The German military performed rapid military maneuvers through Yugoslavia
and forced the encircled Greek forces of the Epirus front to surrender.
The whole of Epirus was then placed under Italian occupation until 1943, when the Germans took over following the Italian surrender to the Allies. Due to the extensive activity of the anti-Nazi Greek resistance (mainly under EDES), the Germans carried out large scaled anti-partisan sweeps, making wide use of Nazi-collaborationist bands
of Cham Albanians
, who committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population.
To deal with the situation, the Allied Military Mission in the Axis-occupied Greece (under Colonel C. M. Woodhouse), gave EDES partisans direct orders to counter-attack and chase out of their villages those units that used them as bases and local strongholds. Helped by Allied war material transferred from the recently liberated southern Italy, EDES forces succeeded and as a result several thousands of Muslim Cham Albanians
fled the area and took refuge in nearby Albania.
With the liberation of Greece and the start of the first round of the Greek Civil War
at the end of 1944, the highlands of Epirus became a major theater of guerrilla warfare between the leftist National People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the right-wing National Republican Greek League (EDES). In subsequent years (1945–1949), the mountains of Epirus also became the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the second and bloodier round of the Greek Civil War. The final episode of the war took place on Mount Grammos
in 1949, ending with the defeat of the Communists. Peace returned to the region in 1949, although because of official Albanian active involvement in the civil war on the side of the communists, the formal state of war between Greece and Albania remained in effect until 1987. Another reason for the continuation of the state of war until 1987 was that during the entire period of Communist rule in Albania, the Greek population of Northern Epirus
experienced forced Albanisation
. Although a Greek minority was recognized by the Hoxha regime, this recognition only applied to an "official minority zone" consisting of 99 villages, leaving out important areas of Greek settlement, such as Himara. People outside the official minority zone received no education in the Greek language, which was prohibited in public. The Hoxha regime also diluted the ethnic demographics of the region by relocating Greeks living there and settling in their stead Albanians from other parts of the country. Relations began to improve in the 1980s with Greece's abandonment of any territorial claims over Northern Epirus and the lifting of the official state of war between the two countries.
The collapse of the communist regime in Albania in 1990-1991 triggered a massive migration of Albanian citizens to Greece, which included many members of the Greek minority. Since the end of the Cold War
, many Greeks in Northern Epirus are re-discovering their Greek heritage thanks to the opening of Greek schools in the region, while Cham Albanians have called for compensation for their lost property. In the post-Cold War era, relations have continued to improve though tensions remain over the availability of education in the Greek language outside the official minority zone, the minority's property rights, and occasional violent incidents targeting members of the Greek minority.
passed through Epirus Nova, which linked Byzantium and Thessalonica to Dyrrachium on the Adriatic Sea
. The modern Egnatia
highway, which links Ioannina
to the Greek province of Macedonia
and terminating at Igoumenitsa
, is the only highway through the Pindus mountains and has served to greatly reduce the region's isolation. The Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel
connects the southernmost tip of Epirus, near Preveza
, with Aetolia-Acarnania
in western Greece. Ferry services from Igoumenitsa
to the Ionian islands
and Italy
exist. The only airport in Epirus is the Ioannina National Airport
, while the Aktion National Airport
is located just south of Preveza in Aetolia-Acarnania
. There are no railroads in Epirus.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf
Ambracian Gulf
The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf , is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece. About long and wide, it is one of the largest enclosed gulfs in Greece...
in the south. It is currently divided between the region of Epirus
Epirus (region)
Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...
in northwestern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and the counties of Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër County
Gjirokastër County is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Gjirokastër, Përmet, and Tepelenë and its capital is Gjirokastër. Its population includes a substantial Greek minority. To the southeast, Gjirokastër shares a border with Greece...
, Vlorë
Vlorë County
The County of Vlorë is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Delvinë, Sarandë and Vlorë and its capital is Vlorë. As of January 1, 2010 the population of the Vlore District was estimated to be 211,773....
, and Berat
Berat County
The County of Berat is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Berat, Kuçovë, and Skrapar; its capital is Berat.The main cities are Berat city proper,Kucove,Polican,Ura Vajgurore, Corovode and Bogove. Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering an area of and a buffer...
in southern Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. The largest city in Epirus is Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
, seat of the region of Epirus, with Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër is a city in southern Albania with a population of 43,000. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is the capital of both the Gjirokastër District and the larger Gjirokastër County...
the largest city in the Albanian part of Epirus.
A rugged and mountainous region, Epirus lay on the periphery of the ancient Greek world
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. It was inhabited by the Greek tribes of the Chaonians
Chaonians
The Chaonians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus located in the north-west of modern Greece and southern Albania. On their southern frontier lay another Epirote kingdom, that of the Molossians, to their southwest stood the kingdom of the Thesprotians, and to their...
, Molossians
Molossians
The Molossians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus since the Mycenaean era. On their northeast frontier they had the Chaonians and to their southern frontier the kingdom of the Thesprotians, to their north were the Illyrians. The Molossians were part of the League of...
, and Thesprotians
Thesprotians
The Thesprotians were an ancient Greek tribe of Thesprotis, Epirus, akin to the Molossians. The poet Homer frequently mentions Thesprotia which had friendly relations with Ithaca and Doulichi. On their northeast frontier they had the Chaonians and to the north the kingdom of the Molossians...
, and home to the sanctuary of Dodona
Dodona
Dodona in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was an oracle devoted to a Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione, who was joined and partly supplanted in historical times by the Greek god Zeus.The shrine of Dodona was regarded as the oldest Hellenic oracle,...
, the oldest ancient Greek oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
, and the most prestigious one after Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
. Unified into a single state
Epirus (ancient state)
Epirus was an ancient Greek state, located in the geographical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans. The homeland of the ancient Epirotes was bordered by the Aetolian League to the south, Thessalia and Macedonia to the east and Illyrian tribes to the north...
in 370 BC by the Aeacidae
Aeacidae
Aeacidae refers to the descendants of Aeacus, most notably Peleus, son of Aeacus, and Achilles, grandson of Aeacus. Neoptolemus was the son of Achilles and the princess Deidamea. The kings of Epirus and Olympias, mother to Alexander the Great, claimed to be members of this lineage.Aeacus of Greek...
dynasty, Epirus achieved fame during the reign of Pyrrhus I of Epirus, whose campaigns against Rome
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
are the origin of the term "Pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
". Epirus subsequently became part of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
along with the rest of Greece in 146 BC, which was followed by the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. Following the fall of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
to the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, Epirus became the center of the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...
, one of the successor states to the Byzantine Empire. Conquered by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the 15th century, Epirus became semi-independent during the rule of Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yannina, surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina", Ali Pashë Tepelena was an Ottoman Albanian ruler of the western part of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also called Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina...
in the early 19th century, but the Ottomans re-asserted their control in 1821. Following the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
and World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, southern Epirus became part of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, while northern Epirus
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
became part of the newly created state of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
.
Name and etymology
Doric Greek
Doric or Dorian was a dialect of ancient Greek. Its variants were spoken in the southern and eastern Peloponnese, Crete, Rhodes, some islands in the southern Aegean Sea, some cities on the coasts of Asia Minor, Southern Italy, Sicily, Epirus and Macedon. Together with Northwest Greek, it forms the...
and the native Northwestern Greek: , Ápeiros), meaning "mainland". It is thought to come from an Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
root 'coast', and was originally applied to the mainland opposite Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
and the Ionian islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
. Epirus for the Greeks represented the "epitome" of a hardy, often inhospitable land that was unsuited for cultivation and therefore needed hard labor to yield a livelihood; hence it was called "εὔάνδρος" (eýandros, i.e. [land] of hardy -literally: "good"- men). The local name was stamped on the coinage of the unified Epirote commonwealth
Epirote League
The Epirote League was an ancient Greek coalition of Epirote communities.-History:...
: ΑΠΕΙΡΟΤΑΝ (Āpeirōtān, Attic Greek equivalent: Ēpeirōtōn, i.e. "of the Epirotes", see image right). The Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
name for the region is Epiri, deriving from the Greek.
Boundaries and definitions
Ceraunian Mountains
The Ceraunian Mountains is a coastal mountain range in southwestern Albania. The name is derived from Ancient Greek Κεραύνια ὄρη, meaning "thunder-split peaks"....
(modern Llogara in Albania), located just south of the Bay of Aulon (modern Vlorë
Vlorë
Vlorë is one of the biggest towns and the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 . It is the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912...
), to the Ambracian Gulf
Ambracian Gulf
The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf , is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece. About long and wide, it is one of the largest enclosed gulfs in Greece...
(or Gulf of Arta
Arta, Greece
Arta is a city with a rich history in northwestern Greece, capital of the peripheral unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia . Arta is famous for its old bridge located over the Arachthos River, situated west of downtown...
) in Greece. The northern boundary of ancient Epirus is alternatively given as the mouth of the Aoös (or Vjosë
Vjosë
Vjosë or Aoös is a river in northwestern Greece and southwestern Albania.Its total length is about , of which the first are in Greece, and the remaining are in Albania. Vjosë is fed by two secondary branches, both in Albania, the Drino river and the Shushicë.Its source is in Greece, specifically...
) river, immediately to the north of the Bay of Vlorë. Epirus' eastern boundary is defined by the Pindus Mountains, that form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
. To the west, Epirus faces the Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
. The island of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
is situated off the Epirote coast but is not regarded as part of Epirus.
The definition of Epirus has changed over time, such that modern administrative boundaries do not correspond to the boundaries of ancient Epirus. The region of Epirus
Epirus (region)
Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...
in Greece only comprises a fraction of classical Epirus and does not include its easternmost portions, which lie in Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
. In Albania, where the concept of Epirus is never used in an official context, the counties of Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër County
Gjirokastër County is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Gjirokastër, Përmet, and Tepelenë and its capital is Gjirokastër. Its population includes a substantial Greek minority. To the southeast, Gjirokastër shares a border with Greece...
, Vlorë
Vlorë County
The County of Vlorë is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Delvinë, Sarandë and Vlorë and its capital is Vlorë. As of January 1, 2010 the population of the Vlore District was estimated to be 211,773....
, and Berat
Berat County
The County of Berat is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Berat, Kuçovë, and Skrapar; its capital is Berat.The main cities are Berat city proper,Kucove,Polican,Ura Vajgurore, Corovode and Bogove. Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering an area of and a buffer...
extend well beyond the northern and northeastern boundaries of classical Epirus.
Geography and ecology
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
ridges that are a continuation of the Dinaric Alps
Dinaric Alps
The Dinaric Alps or Dinarides form a mountain chain in Southern Europe, spanning areas of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro....
. The Pindus mountains form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
to the east. The ridges of the Pindus are parallel to the sea and generally so steep that the valleys between them are mostly suitable for pasture rather than large-scale agriculture. Altitude increases as one moves east, away from the coast, reaching a maximum of 2637m at Mount Smolikas
Smolikas
Mount Smolikas , also with the o accented , at a height of 2,637 metres above sea level, is the second highest mountain in Greece, after Mount Olympus, and the highest of the Pindus Mountains. The mountain is formed in ophiolite rocks. During the Pleistocene the northern and eastern cirques and...
, the highest point in Epirus. Other important ranges include Tymfi
Tymfi
Tymfi or Mt Tymphe, Timfi, also Tymphi is a mountain in the northern Pindus mountain range, northwestern Greece. It is part of the regional unit of Ioannina and lies in the region of Zagori, just a few meters south of the 40° parallel...
(2496 at Mount Gamila), Lygkos
Lygkos
Lygkos or Ligkos is a mountain in the eastern Ioannina and the western Grevena prefectures in northwestern Greece. The mountain is a part of the Pindus mountain range. Its maximum elevation is 2,249 m...
(2249m), to the west and east of Smolikas respectively, Gramos
Gramos
Gramos is a village and a former community in Kastoria peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nestorio, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 28 . The village is an old Aromanian settlement, named after the nearby...
(2523m) in the northeast, Tzoumerka (2356m) in the southeast, Tomaros (1976m) in the southwest, Mitsikeli
Mitsikeli
Mitsikeli is a mountain range in the central part of the Pindus mountains, in Epirus, Greece. The mountain is located northeast of Ioannina and Lake Ioannina. Its highest elevation is 1,810 m....
near Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
(1810m), Mourgana (1806m) and Nemercke/Aeoropos
Nemerçkë
Nemërçkë is a long mountain in southern Albania and northern Greece. Over 90% of the mountain is located in Albania, where its highest peaks are found. The highest peak is Maja e Papingut which rises at above sea level, while the highest peak on the Greek side is at above sea level. The river...
(2485m) on the border between Greece and Albania, and the Ceraunian Mountains
Ceraunian Mountains
The Ceraunian Mountains is a coastal mountain range in southwestern Albania. The name is derived from Ancient Greek Κεραύνια ὄρη, meaning "thunder-split peaks"....
(2000m) near Himara in Albania. Most of Epirus lies on the windward side of the Pindus, and the prevailing winds from the Ionian Sea make the region the rainiest in mainland Greece.
Significant lowlands are to be found only near the coast, in the southwest near Arta
Arta
Arta may refer to:Places*Arta, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality*Arta Region, Djibouti*Arta, Djibouti, capital city of Arta Region*Arta Prefecture, Greece*Arta, Greece, capital city of Arta Prefecture*Medieval Despotate of Arta...
and Preveza
Preveza
Preveza is a town in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epirus. An immersed tunnel, completed in 2002 which runs between Preveza and Actium, connects the town...
, in the Acheron plain between Paramythia
Paramythia
Paramythia is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Souli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Population 7,859 .-Name:...
and Fanari
Fanari
Fanari may refer to the following places:*in Greece:**Ano Fanari, a place in the Methana peninsula**Fanari, Elis, part of the municipality of Andritsaina in Elis**Fanari, Karditsa, part of the municipality of Ithomi in the Karditsa Prefecturea...
, between Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....
and Sagiada
Sagiada
Sagiada is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filiates, of which it is a municipal unit. Its 2001 population was 897 for the village and 2,160 for the municipality. The seat of the municipality...
, and also near Saranda. The Zagori
Zagori
Zagori , is a region and a municipality in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Asprangeloi. It has an area of some 1,000 square kilometres and contains 45 villages known as Zagoria , and is in the shape of an upturned equilateral...
area is a scenic upland plateau surrounded by mountain on all sides.
The main river flowing through Epirus is the Vjosë
Vjosë
Vjosë or Aoös is a river in northwestern Greece and southwestern Albania.Its total length is about , of which the first are in Greece, and the remaining are in Albania. Vjosë is fed by two secondary branches, both in Albania, the Drino river and the Shushicë.Its source is in Greece, specifically...
(Aoös in Greek), which flows in a northwesterly direction from the Pindus mountains in Greece to its mouth north of the Bay of Vlorë in Albania. Other important rivers include the Acheron river
Acheron
The Acheron is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It flows into the Ionian Sea in Ammoudia, near Parga.-In mythology:...
, famous for its religious significance in ancient Greece and site of the Necromanteion
Necromanteion
The Necromanteion or Nekromanteion was an ancient Greek temple of necromancy devoted to Hades and Persephone. According to tradition, it was located on the banks of the Acheron river in Epirus, near the ancient city of Ephyra. This site was believed by devotees to be the door to Hades, the realm...
, the Arachthos river
Arachthos River
The Arachthos is a river in eastern Epirus in Greece that flows from the Pindus mountains and begins in the area southeast of Metsovo in the Ioannina Prefecture near the Trikala Prefecture and flows by numerous village including Elliniko...
, crossed by the historic Bridge of Arta
Bridge of Arta
The Bridge of Arta is a stone bridge that crosses the Arachthos river near the city of Arta in Greece. The bridge became famous from the eponymous legendary folk ballad, which is at the core about human sacrifice...
, the Louros
Louros (river)
The Louros is a river in the Periphery of Epirus, in northwestern Greece. It emerges from the ground in a large spring located immediately north of the village of Vouliasta, in Ioannina prefecture at 39°55'55 N and 20°50'28 E, at approximately 300 m in altitude. It flows south through a canyon,...
, the Thyamis or Kalamas, and the Voidomatis, a tributary of the Vjosë flowing through the Vikos Gorge
Vikos Gorge
The Vikos Gorge is a gorge in the Pindus Mountains of northern Greece. It lies on the southern slopes of Mount Tymfi, with a length of about 20 km, depth ranging from 450 m to 1600 m and width from 400 m to some meters at its narrowest part....
. The Vikos Gorge, one of the deepest in the world, forms the centerpiece of the Vikos–Aoös National Park, known for its scenic beauty. The only significant lake in Epirus is Lake Pamvotis, on whose shores lies the city of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
, the region's largest and traditionally most important city.
The climate of Epirus is mediterranean
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
along the coast and alpine
Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
in the interior. Epirus is heavily forested, mainly by coniferous species. The fauna in Epirus is especially rich and features species such as bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s, wolves, fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
es, deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and lynx
Lynx
A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...
es.
Early History
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
times by seafarers along the coast and by hunters and shepherds in the interior who brought with them the Greek language
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. These people buried their leaders in large tumuli containing shaft graves, similar to the Mycenaean tombs, indicating an ancestral link between Epirus and the Mycenean civilization. A number of Mycenaean remains have been found in Epirus, especially at the most important ancient religious sites in the region, the Necromanteion
Necromanteion
The Necromanteion or Nekromanteion was an ancient Greek temple of necromancy devoted to Hades and Persephone. According to tradition, it was located on the banks of the Acheron river in Epirus, near the ancient city of Ephyra. This site was believed by devotees to be the door to Hades, the realm...
(Oracle of the Dead) on the Acheron
Acheron
The Acheron is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It flows into the Ionian Sea in Ammoudia, near Parga.-In mythology:...
river, and the Oracle of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
at Dodona
Dodona
Dodona in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was an oracle devoted to a Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione, who was joined and partly supplanted in historical times by the Greek god Zeus.The shrine of Dodona was regarded as the oldest Hellenic oracle,...
.
In the Middle Bronze Age, Epirus was inhabited by the same nomadic Hellenic tribes that went on to settle in the rest of Greece. Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and the region where the Hellenes originated. According to linguist V. I. Georgiev
Vladimir Georgiev
Vladimir Georgiev may refer to:* Vladimir I. Georgiev, Bulgarian linguist, philologist, and educational administrator* Vladimir Georgiev , Bulgarian chess player...
, Epirus was part of the Proto-Greek
Proto-Greek language
The Proto-Greek language is the assumed last common ancestor of all known varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean, the classical Greek dialects , and ultimately Koine, Byzantine and modern Greek...
linguistic area. By the early 1st millennium BC
1st millennium BC
The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of many successive empires, and spanned from 1000 BC to 1 BC.The Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the Achaemenids. In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the rise of Hellenism. The...
, the population of Epirus consisted of three principal clusters of Greek-speaking tribes: the Chaonians
Chaonians
The Chaonians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus located in the north-west of modern Greece and southern Albania. On their southern frontier lay another Epirote kingdom, that of the Molossians, to their southwest stood the kingdom of the Thesprotians, and to their...
in northwestern Epirus, the Molossians
Molossians
The Molossians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus since the Mycenaean era. On their northeast frontier they had the Chaonians and to their southern frontier the kingdom of the Thesprotians, to their north were the Illyrians. The Molossians were part of the League of...
in the centre and the Thesprotians
Thesprotians
The Thesprotians were an ancient Greek tribe of Thesprotis, Epirus, akin to the Molossians. The poet Homer frequently mentions Thesprotia which had friendly relations with Ithaca and Doulichi. On their northeast frontier they had the Chaonians and to the north the kingdom of the Molossians...
in the south.
Epirus in the Classical period
Unlike most other Greeks of this time, who lived in or around city-stateCity-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
s, the inhabitants of Epirus lived in small villages and their way of life was foreign to that of the poleis
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
of southern Greece. Their region lay on the periphery of the Greek world and was far from peaceful; for many centuries, it remained a frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
area contested with the Illyrian peoples to the north. However, Epirus had a far greater religious significance than might have been expected given its geographical remoteness, due to the presence of the shrine and oracle at Dodona
Dodona
Dodona in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was an oracle devoted to a Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione, who was joined and partly supplanted in historical times by the Greek god Zeus.The shrine of Dodona was regarded as the oldest Hellenic oracle,...
- regarded as second only to the more famous oracle at Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
.
The Epirotes, speakers of a Northwest Greek dialect, different from the Dorian
Dorian
The Dorians were one of the four major ethnē into which the Ancient Greeks, or Hellenes, of the Classical period considered themselves divided. Ethnos has the sense of ethnic group. Herodotus uses the word with regard to them...
of the Greek colonies on the Ionian islands, and bearers of mostly Greek names, as evidenced by epigraphy, seem to have been regarded with some disdain by some classical writers. The 5th century BC Athenian historian Thucydides
Thucydides
Thucydides was a Greek historian and author from Alimos. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC...
describes them as "barbarians", as does Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
. Other writers, such as Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...
, Pausanias
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
and Eutropius, describe them as Greeks. Similarly, Epirote tribes/states are included in the Argive
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
and Epidaurian
Epidaurus
Epidaurus was a small city in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros : Palaia Epidavros and Nea Epidavros. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epidavros, part of the peripheral unit of Argolis...
lists of the Greek Thearodokoi (hosts of sacred envoys). Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
mentions an interesting element of Epirote folklore regarding Achilles: In his biography of King Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome...
, he claims that Achilles "had a divine status in Epirus and in the local dialect he was called Aspetos" (meaning unspeakable, unspeakably great, in Homeric Greek
Homeric Greek
Homeric Greek is the form of the Greek language that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. It is an archaic version of Ionic Greek, with admixtures from certain other dialects, such as Aeolic Greek. It later served as the basis of Epic Greek, the language of epic poetry, typically in...
).
Beginning in 370 BC, the Molossian Aeacidae
Aeacidae
Aeacidae refers to the descendants of Aeacus, most notably Peleus, son of Aeacus, and Achilles, grandson of Aeacus. Neoptolemus was the son of Achilles and the princess Deidamea. The kings of Epirus and Olympias, mother to Alexander the Great, claimed to be members of this lineage.Aeacus of Greek...
dynasty built a centralized state in Epirus
Epirus (ancient state)
Epirus was an ancient Greek state, located in the geographical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans. The homeland of the ancient Epirotes was bordered by the Aetolian League to the south, Thessalia and Macedonia to the east and Illyrian tribes to the north...
and began expanding their power at the expense of rival tribes. The Aeacids allied themselves with the increasingly powerful kingdom of Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
, in part against the common threat of Illyrian
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
raids, and in 359 BC the Molossian princess Olympias
Olympias
Olympias was a Greek princess of Epirus, daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the fourth wife of the king of Macedonia, Philip II, and mother of Alexander the Great...
, niece of Arybbas of Epirus, married King Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
. She was to become the mother of Alexander the Great.
On the death of Arybbas, Alexander of Epirus succeeded to the throne and the title King of Epirus
Epirus (ancient state)
Epirus was an ancient Greek state, located in the geographical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans. The homeland of the ancient Epirotes was bordered by the Aetolian League to the south, Thessalia and Macedonia to the east and Illyrian tribes to the north...
in 334 BC. He invaded Italy, but was killed in battle by the Romans in 331 BC. Aeacides of Epirus
Aeacides of Epirus
Aeacides , king of Epirus , was son of Arymbas and grandson of Alcetas I. He succeeded to the throne of Epirus on the death of his cousin Alexander, who was slain in Italy. Aeacides married Phthia, the daughter of Menon of Pharsalus, by whom he had the celebrated Pyrrhus and two daughters, Deidamia...
, who succeeded Alexander, espoused the cause of Olympias against Cassander
Cassander
Cassander , King of Macedonia , was a son of Antipater, and founder of the Antipatrid dynasty...
, but was dethroned in 313 BC. His son Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome...
came to throne in 295 BC, and for six years fought against the Romans
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
and Carthaginians in southern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. The high cost of his victories against the Romans gave Epirus a new, but brief, importance, as well as a lasting contribution to the Greek language with the concept of a "Pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
". Pyrrhus nonetheless brought great prosperity to Epirus, building the great theater of Dodona
Dodona
Dodona in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was an oracle devoted to a Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione, who was joined and partly supplanted in historical times by the Greek god Zeus.The shrine of Dodona was regarded as the oldest Hellenic oracle,...
and a new suburb at Ambracia
Ambracia
Ambracia, occasionally Ampracia , was an ancient Corinthian colony, situated about 7 miles from the Ambracian Gulf in Greece, on a bend of the navigable river Arachthos , in the midst of a fertile wooded plain.-History:...
(now modern Arta
Arta
Arta may refer to:Places*Arta, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality*Arta Region, Djibouti*Arta, Djibouti, capital city of Arta Region*Arta Prefecture, Greece*Arta, Greece, capital city of Arta Prefecture*Medieval Despotate of Arta...
), which made his capital.
The Aeacid dynasty ended in 232 BC, but Epirus remained a substantial power, unified under the auspices of the Epirote League as a federal state with its own parliament, or synedrion. However, it was faced with the growing threat of the expansionist Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, which fought a series of wars against Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
. The League steered an uneasy neutral course in the first two Macedonian Wars but split in the Third Macedonian War
Third Macedonian War
The Third Macedonian War was a war fought between Rome and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC King Philip V of Macedon died and his talented and ambitious son, Perseus, took his throne. Perseus married Laodike, daughter of King Seleucus IV Keraunos of Asia, and increased the size of his army...
(171 BC
171 BC
Year 171 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Longinus...
-168 BC
168 BC
Year 168 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macedonicus and Crassus...
), with the Molossians siding with the Macedonians and the Chaonians and Thesprotians siding with Rome. The outcome was disastrous for Epirus; Molossia fell to Rome in 167 BC
167 BC
Year 167 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paetus and Pennus...
, 150,000 of its inhabitants were enslaved, and the region was so thoroughly plundered that it took 500 years for central Epirus to recover fully.
Roman and Byzantine rule
146 BC
Year 146 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Achaicus...
, Epirus became part of the province of Roman Macedonia
Macedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
, receiving the name Epirus vetus ("Old Epirus"), to distinguish it from Epirus nova ("New Epirus") to the north. Its coastal regions grew wealthy from the Roman coastal trade routes, and the construction of the Via Egnatia
Via Egnatia
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thrace, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey.Starting at Dyrrachium on the...
provided a further boost to prosperity.
When the Roman Empire was divided in two in 395 AD, Epirus became part of the Eastern Roman Empire (subsequently the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
), ruled from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. The city of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
was likely founded in the 6th century AD. In the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
, Slavic tribes are believed to have settled in the region, though the extent of such settlement is unclear. These tribes are believed to have been completely hellenized
Hellenization
Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon...
by the eve of the 13th century, if not before. Epirus was part of the First Bulgarian Empire
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
in the 9th and 10th centuries, but Byzantine control was re-asserted following the destruction of the First Bulgarian Empire by Basil II. An Aromanian
Aromanians
Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...
presence in Epirus is first mentioned in the late 11th century. Jewish communities are attested throughout the medieval period in Arta
Arta
Arta may refer to:Places*Arta, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality*Arta Region, Djibouti*Arta, Djibouti, capital city of Arta Region*Arta Prefecture, Greece*Arta, Greece, capital city of Arta Prefecture*Medieval Despotate of Arta...
and Ioannina.
When Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
fell to the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
in 1204, Michael Angelos Komnenos Ducas seized Aetolia
Aetolia
Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania.-Geography:...
and Epirus and established an independent state known as the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...
with Arta
Arta
Arta may refer to:Places*Arta, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality*Arta Region, Djibouti*Arta, Djibouti, capital city of Arta Region*Arta Prefecture, Greece*Arta, Greece, capital city of Arta Prefecture*Medieval Despotate of Arta...
as its capital. Epirus, and the city of Ioannina in particular, became a haven for Greek refugees from Constantinople for most of the century. The rulers of the Despotate at times controlled an area corresponding to mainland Greece west of the Pindus, much of modern Albania and at time parts of Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
. During this time, the definition of Epirus came to encompass the entire coastal region from the Ambracian Gulf
Ambracian Gulf
The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf , is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece. About long and wide, it is one of the largest enclosed gulfs in Greece...
to Dyrrachium (modern-day Durrës
Durrës
Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
, in Albania). Some of the most important cities in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër is a city in southern Albania with a population of 43,000. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is the capital of both the Gjirokastër District and the larger Gjirokastër County...
(Argyrokastron), were founded during this period. In 1337, Epirus was once again brought under Byzantine imperial rule.
In 1348, taking advantage of the civil war
Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 was a conflict between supporters of designated regent John VI Kantakouzenos and guardians acting for John V Palaiologos, Emperor Andronikos III's nine-year-old son, in the persons of the Empress-dowager Anna of Savoy, the Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV...
in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
between John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos was a Byzantine emperor, who succeeded his father in 1341, at age nine.-Biography:...
and John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus was the Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354.-Early life:Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of a Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was a descendant of the reigning house of...
, the Serbian King Stefan Uroš IV Dušan conquered Epirus, with a number of Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
mercenaries assisting him. It is during this time that an Albanian presence in Epirus is first mentioned. The Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
authorities in Constantinople soon re-established a measure of control by making the Despotate of Epirus a vassal state
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that is subordinate to another. The vassal in these cases is the ruler, rather than the state itself. Being a vassal most commonly implies providing military assistance to the dominant state when requested to do so; it sometimes implies paying tribute, but a state which...
, but meanwhile Albanian clans invaded, seized most of the region, and founded two local, short-lived entities, centered in Arta
Despotate of Arta
The Despotate of Arta was a despotate established by Albanian rulers during the 14th century, when Albanian tribes moved into Epirus and founded two short-lived principalities there...
(1358–1416) and Gjirokastër
Principality of Gjirokastër
The Principality of Gjirokastër was an Albanian principality created by Gjon Zenebishi in 1386, encompassing the area around Gjirokastër...
(1386–1411) by the Losha and Zenebishi clans, respectively. Only the city of Ioannina remained under Greek control during this time. Although Albanian clans gained control of most of the region of Epirus by 1366-7, they didn't replace any Greek or Serbian central authority in the region but remained divided in clans. Ioannina became a center of Greek resistance, and the Greeks of Ioannina offered power to three foreign rulers during this time, beginning with Thomas II Preljubović
Thomas II Preljubovic
Thomas II Preljubović or Komnenos Palaiologos , was ruler of Epirus in Ioannina from 1366 to his death on December 23, 1384. He also held the title of Albanian-slayer .-Family:...
(1367–1384), followed by Esau de' Buondelmonti
Esau de' Buondelmonti
Esau de' Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus in Ioannina from 1385 to his death in 1411.Esau was the son of the Florentine nobleman Manente Buondelmonti and Lapa Acciaiuoli, sister of Niccolò Acciaiuoli of Corinth and the grandson of the great Χρηστόφορxοςστασία XXIV...
(1385–1411), and finally Carlo I Tocco
Carlo I Tocco
Carlo I Tocco was the ruler of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429.-Life:Carlo I was the son of Count Leonardo I Tocco of Cephalonia and Leukas by Maddalena de' Buondelmonti, sister of Esau de' Buondelmonti of Epirus...
. (1411–1429). The latter finally succeeded in ending the rule of the Albanian clans and unifying Epirus. But internal dissension eased the Ottoman conquest, which proceeded with the capture of Ioannina in 1430, Arta in 1449, Angelokastro in 1460, and finally Vonitsa in 1479. With the exception of several coastal Venetian possessions, this was the end of Frankish rule in mainland Greece.
Ottoman rule
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
for almost 500 years. Ottoman rule in Epirus proved particularly damaging; the region was subjected to deforestation and excessive cultivation, which damaged the soil and drove many Epirotes to emigrate so as to escape the region's pervasive poverty. Nonetheless, the Ottomans did not enjoy total control of Epirus. The Himara and Zagori
Zagori
Zagori , is a region and a municipality in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Asprangeloi. It has an area of some 1,000 square kilometres and contains 45 villages known as Zagoria , and is in the shape of an upturned equilateral...
regions managed to successfully resist Ottoman rule and maintained a degree of independence throughout this period. In 1443, the northernmost part of Epirus was briefly conquered by George Kastrioti Skenderbeg as part of his revolt against the Ottoman Empire, but on his death it fell to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. The Ottomans expelled the Venetians from almost the whole area in the late 15th century.
In the period between the 16th and 19th centuries, the city of Ioannina attained great prosperity and became a major center of the modern Greek Enlightenment. Numerous schools were founded, such as the Balaneios, Maroutsaia
Maroutsaia School
The Maroutsaia School or Maroutsios was a Greek educational institution that operated in Ioannina from 1742 to 1797. The school reached its peak under Eugenios Voulgaris, one of the main representative of the modern Greek Enlightenment...
, Kaplaneios
Kaplaneios School
The Kaplaneios School was a Greek educational institution that operated in Ioannina from 1797 to 1820/1. The school evolved into the most significant intellectual center of the city through the work of Athanasios Psalidas, a major representative of the modern Greek Enlightenment...
, and Zosimaia
Zosimaia School
The Zosimaia School of Ioannina has been one of the most significant Greek middle-level educational institutions during the last period of Ottoman rule in the region...
, teaching subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics and physical sciences. In the 18th century, as the power of the Ottoman Empire declined, Epirus became a de facto independent region under the despotic rule of Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yannina, surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina", Ali Pashë Tepelena was an Ottoman Albanian ruler of the western part of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also called Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina...
of Tepelena, a Muslim Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
brigand who rose to become the provincial governor of Ioannina in 1788. At the height of his power, he controlled all of Epirus, and much of the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
, central Greece, and parts of western Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
Ali Pasha's campaign to subjugate the confederation of the settlements of Souli
Souli
Souli is a municipality in Epirus, northwestern Greece. It was originally settled by both Greek and Albanian refugees who were hunted by the Ottomans in Thesprotia, Greece and Laberia, Albania. In early modern times, it was inhabited by about 12,000 Souliotes. After their expulsion the population...
met with fierce resistance by the Souliot
Souliotes
Souliotes were a warlike community from the area of Souli, in Greece, who became famous across Greece for their resistance against the local Ottoman Pashalik of Yanina ruled by the Muslim Albanian Ali Pasha...
warriors of the mountainous area. After numerous failed attempts to defeat the Souliotes, his troops succeeded in conquering the area in 1803. On the other hand, Ali, who used Greek as official language, witnessed an increase of Greek cultural activity with the establishment of several educational institutions.
When the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
broke out, the inhabitants of Epirus contributed greatly. Two of the founding members of the Filiki Eteria
Filiki Eteria
thumb|right|200px|The flag of the Filiki Eteria.Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends was a secret 19th century organization, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece and to establish an independent Greek state. Society members were mainly young Phanariot Greeks from Russia and local...
(the secret society of the Greek revolutionaries), Nikolaos Skoufas
Nikolaos Skoufas
Nikolaos Skoufas - member of the Filiki Eteria , a Greek conspiratorial organization against the Ottoman Empire....
and Athanasios Tsakalov, came from the Arta
Arta Prefecture
Arta is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Arta.-Geography:The regional unit of Arta is located north of the Ambracian Gulf. The main mountain ranges are the Athamanika in the northeast, the Pindus in the east, and Valtou in the...
area and the city of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
, respectively. Greece's first constitutional prime minister (1844–1847), Ioannis Kolettis
Ioannis Kolettis
Ioannis Kolettis was a Greek politician who played a significant role in Greek affairs from the Greek War of Independence through the early years of the Greek Kingdom, including as Minister to France and serving twice as Prime Minister....
, was a native of the village of Syrrako in Epirus and was a former personal physician to Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha tried to use the war as an opportunity to make himself a fully independent ruler, but was assassinated by Ottoman agents in 1822. When Greece became independent in 1830, however, Epirus remained under Ottoman rule. In 1854, during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, a major local rebellion broke out
Epirus Revolt of 1854
The 1854 revolt in Epirus was one of the most important of a series of Greek uprisings that occurred in the Ottoman-occupied Greek world during that period. When the Crimean War broke out, many Epirote Greeks, with tacit support from the Greek state, revolted against the Ottoman rule...
. Although the newly found Greek state tried tacitly to support it, the rebellion was suppressed by Ottoman forces after a few months. Another failed rebellion by local Greeks broke out in 1878
Epirus Revolt of 1878
The 1878 revolt in Epirus was the part of a series of Greek uprisings that occurred in the Ottoman-ruled Greece during the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War . Although Greek officials individually supported the revolt, the Greek Government, being aware of the international situation in eastern...
. During this period, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
managed to shut down the few Albanian schools, considering teaching in Albanian a factor that would diminish its influence and lead to the creation of separate Albanian church, while publications in Albanian were banned by the Ottoman Empire. In the late 19th century, the Kingdom of Italy opened various schools in the regions of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
and Preveza
Preveza
Preveza is a town in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epirus. An immersed tunnel, completed in 2002 which runs between Preveza and Actium, connects the town...
in order to influence the local population. These schools began to attract students from the Greek language schools, but were ultimately closed after intervention and harassment by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Throughout, the late period of Ottoman rule (from 18th century) Greek and Aromanian population of the region suffered from Albanians raiders, that sporadically continued after Ali Pasha's death, until 1912-1913.
20th century Epirus
 |
| The region of Epirus in the 20th century, divided between Greece and Albania. Grey: approx. extent of Epirus in antiquity; Orange: Greek region of Epirus Epirus (region) Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south... ; Green: approx. extent of largest concentration of Greeks in "Northern Epirus", early 20th cent. Red dotted line: Territory of Autonomous State of Northern Epirus |
While the Treaty of Berlin (1878) awarded large parts of Epirus to Greece, opposition by the Ottomans and the League of Prizren
League of Prizren
The League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation commonly known as the League of Prizren was an Albanian political organization founded on 10 June 1878 in Prizren, in the Kosovo province of the Ottoman Empire....
resulted in only the region of Arta
Arta
Arta may refer to:Places*Arta, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality*Arta Region, Djibouti*Arta, Djibouti, capital city of Arta Region*Arta Prefecture, Greece*Arta, Greece, capital city of Arta Prefecture*Medieval Despotate of Arta...
being ceded to Greece in 1881. It was only following the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
of 1912–1913 and the Treaty of London that the rest of southern Epirus, including Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
, was incorporated into Greece. Greece had also seized northern Epirus during the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, but the Treaty of Bucharest, which concluded the Second Balkan War
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
, assigned Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
to Albania.
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
was henceforth regarded as terra irredenta
Irredentism
Irredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
. Local Greeks in northern Epirus revolted, declared their independence
Northern Epirote Declaration of Independence
The Northern Epirote Declaration of Independence occurred on February 28, 1914, in Argyrokastron , against the decision of incorporation of Northern Epirus to the newly established Albanian principality....
and proclaimed the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded on February 28, 1914, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, by the Greeks living in southern Albania ....
in February 1914. After fierce guerrilla fighting, they managed to gain full autonomy under the terms of the Protocol of Corfu
Protocol of Corfu
The Protocol of Corfu , signed on May 17, 1914, was an agreement between representatives of the Albanian Government and the Provisional Government of Northern Epirus, which officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as an autonomous region within the Albanian state...
, signed by Albanian and Northern Epirote representatives and approved by the Great Powers. The signing of the Protocol ensured that the region would have its own administration, recognized the rights of the local Greeks and provided self government under nominal Albanian sovereignty. The Republic, however, was short-lived, as when World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out, Albania collapsed, and northern Epirus was alternately controlled by Greece, Italy and France at various intervals. Although short-lived, this state managed to leave behind a number of historical records of its existence, including its own postage stamps; see Postage stamps and postal history of Epirus
Postage stamps and postal history of Epirus
The postal history of Northern Epirus, a region in the western Balkans, in southern modern Albania, comprises two periods; 1912–1916 and 1940-41. Northern Epirus was under Greek administration during the First Balkan War , but it was then awarded to the newly founded Albanian state by the Florence...
.
Although the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
of 1919 awarded Northern Epirus to Greece, developments such as the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War and, crucially, Italian lobbying in favor of Albania meant that Greece would not keep Northern Epirus. In 1924, the area was again ceded to Albania.
In 1939, Italy occupied Albania
Italian invasion of Albania
The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom. The conflict was a result of the imperialist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini...
, and in 1940 invaded Greece
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
. The Italians were driven back into Albania, however, and Greek forces again took control of northern Epirus. The conflict marked the first tactical victory of the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
himself supervised the massive counter-attack of his divisions in spring 1941, only to be decisively defeated again by the poorly equipped, but determined, Greeks. Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
then intervened
Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
in April 1941 to avert an embarrassing, wholesale Italian defeat. The German military performed rapid military maneuvers through Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
and forced the encircled Greek forces of the Epirus front to surrender.
The whole of Epirus was then placed under Italian occupation until 1943, when the Germans took over following the Italian surrender to the Allies. Due to the extensive activity of the anti-Nazi Greek resistance (mainly under EDES), the Germans carried out large scaled anti-partisan sweeps, making wide use of Nazi-collaborationist bands
Axis-Cham Albanian collaboration
During the Axis occupation of Greece between 1941 and 1944, large parts of the Albanian minority in the Thesprotia prefecture in Epirus, northwestern Greece, known as Chams collaborated with the occupation forces. Fascist Italian as well as Nazi German propaganda promised that the region would be...
of Cham Albanians
Cham Albanians
Cham Albanians, or Chams , are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many...
, who committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population.
To deal with the situation, the Allied Military Mission in the Axis-occupied Greece (under Colonel C. M. Woodhouse), gave EDES partisans direct orders to counter-attack and chase out of their villages those units that used them as bases and local strongholds. Helped by Allied war material transferred from the recently liberated southern Italy, EDES forces succeeded and as a result several thousands of Muslim Cham Albanians
Cham Albanians
Cham Albanians, or Chams , are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many...
fled the area and took refuge in nearby Albania.
With the liberation of Greece and the start of the first round of the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
at the end of 1944, the highlands of Epirus became a major theater of guerrilla warfare between the leftist National People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the right-wing National Republican Greek League (EDES). In subsequent years (1945–1949), the mountains of Epirus also became the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the second and bloodier round of the Greek Civil War. The final episode of the war took place on Mount Grammos
Gramos
Gramos is a village and a former community in Kastoria peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nestorio, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 28 . The village is an old Aromanian settlement, named after the nearby...
in 1949, ending with the defeat of the Communists. Peace returned to the region in 1949, although because of official Albanian active involvement in the civil war on the side of the communists, the formal state of war between Greece and Albania remained in effect until 1987. Another reason for the continuation of the state of war until 1987 was that during the entire period of Communist rule in Albania, the Greek population of Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
experienced forced Albanisation
Albanisation
Albanisation is a term used to describe a linguistic or cultural assimilation to the Albanian language and Albanian culture.- In Kosovo :The term is used in reference to Kosovo....
. Although a Greek minority was recognized by the Hoxha regime, this recognition only applied to an "official minority zone" consisting of 99 villages, leaving out important areas of Greek settlement, such as Himara. People outside the official minority zone received no education in the Greek language, which was prohibited in public. The Hoxha regime also diluted the ethnic demographics of the region by relocating Greeks living there and settling in their stead Albanians from other parts of the country. Relations began to improve in the 1980s with Greece's abandonment of any territorial claims over Northern Epirus and the lifting of the official state of war between the two countries.
The collapse of the communist regime in Albania in 1990-1991 triggered a massive migration of Albanian citizens to Greece, which included many members of the Greek minority. Since the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, many Greeks in Northern Epirus are re-discovering their Greek heritage thanks to the opening of Greek schools in the region, while Cham Albanians have called for compensation for their lost property. In the post-Cold War era, relations have continued to improve though tensions remain over the availability of education in the Greek language outside the official minority zone, the minority's property rights, and occasional violent incidents targeting members of the Greek minority.
Economy
A rugged topography, poor soils, and fragmented landholdings have kept agricultural production low and have resulted in a low population density. Animal husbandry is the main industry and corn the chief crop. Oranges and olives are grown in the western lowlands, while tobacco is grown around Ioannina. Epirus has few natural resources and industries, and the population has been depleted by migration. The population is centered around Ioannina, which has the largest number of industrial establishments.Transportation
Epirus has historically been a remote and isolated region due to its location between the Pindus mountains and the sea. In antiquity, the Roman Via EgnatiaVia Egnatia
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thrace, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey.Starting at Dyrrachium on the...
passed through Epirus Nova, which linked Byzantium and Thessalonica to Dyrrachium on the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
. The modern Egnatia
Egnatia Odos (modern road)
Egnatia Odos is the Greek part of the European route. It is a motorway in Greece that extends from the western port of Igoumenitsa to the eastern Greek–Turkish border at Kipoi. It runs a total of...
highway, which links Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
to the Greek province of Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and terminating at Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....
, is the only highway through the Pindus mountains and has served to greatly reduce the region's isolation. The Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel
Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel
The Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel is an undersea road tunnel across the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf in western Greece. It links Epirus and the city of Preveza on the north shore of the gulf with the cape of Aktio in Aetolia-Acarnania, in Central Greece...
connects the southernmost tip of Epirus, near Preveza
Preveza
Preveza is a town in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epirus. An immersed tunnel, completed in 2002 which runs between Preveza and Actium, connects the town...
, with Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia-Acarnania is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is located in the western part of Greece; the regional unit is a combination of the geographic regions Aetolia and Acarnania. Its capital is Missolonghi for historical reasons, with its biggest...
in western Greece. Ferry services from Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....
to the Ionian islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
exist. The only airport in Epirus is the Ioannina National Airport
Ioannina National Airport
Ioannina National Airport is an airport located four kilometers from the city center of Ioannina, Greece. Its new name is Ioannina National Airport - King Pyrrhus, from the former King Pyrrhus of Epirus.It mainly receives charter flights during the summer period.-History:*1953: Construction of...
, while the Aktion National Airport
Aktion National Airport
Aktion National Airport is an airport serving Preveza and Lefkada in Greece. It is also known as Lefkada Airport. The airport is also used by NATO and Hellenic Air Force Command.-Airlines and destinations:-External links:...
is located just south of Preveza in Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia-Acarnania is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is located in the western part of Greece; the regional unit is a combination of the geographic regions Aetolia and Acarnania. Its capital is Missolonghi for historical reasons, with its biggest...
. There are no railroads in Epirus.
See also
- Ancient EpirusEpirus (ancient state)Epirus was an ancient Greek state, located in the geographical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans. The homeland of the ancient Epirotes was bordered by the Aetolian League to the south, Thessalia and Macedonia to the east and Illyrian tribes to the north...
: MolossiansMolossiansThe Molossians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus since the Mycenaean era. On their northeast frontier they had the Chaonians and to their southern frontier the kingdom of the Thesprotians, to their north were the Illyrians. The Molossians were part of the League of...
, ThesprotiansThesprotiansThe Thesprotians were an ancient Greek tribe of Thesprotis, Epirus, akin to the Molossians. The poet Homer frequently mentions Thesprotia which had friendly relations with Ithaca and Doulichi. On their northeast frontier they had the Chaonians and to the north the kingdom of the Molossians...
, ChaoniansChaoniansThe Chaonians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus located in the north-west of modern Greece and southern Albania. On their southern frontier lay another Epirote kingdom, that of the Molossians, to their southwest stood the kingdom of the Thesprotians, and to their...
, DodonaDodonaDodona in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was an oracle devoted to a Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione, who was joined and partly supplanted in historical times by the Greek god Zeus.The shrine of Dodona was regarded as the oldest Hellenic oracle,...
, Pyrrhus of EpirusPyrrhus of EpirusPyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome... - Cham AlbaniansCham AlbaniansCham Albanians, or Chams , are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many...
, ChameriaChameriaChameria is a term used today mostly by Albanians for parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and northwestern Greece It was also used by Greeks till the mid of 20th century and is frequently found in Greek literature. Today it is obsolete in Greek, surviving mainly in Greek folk... - Despotate of ArtaDespotate of ArtaThe Despotate of Arta was a despotate established by Albanian rulers during the 14th century, when Albanian tribes moved into Epirus and founded two short-lived principalities there...
- Despotate of EpirusDespotate of EpirusThe Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...
- Epirus (region)Epirus (region)Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...
in GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... - Greco-Italian WarGreco-Italian WarThe Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
- Himara
- IoanninaIoanninaIoannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
- List of cities in ancient Epirus
- List of Epirotes
- Northern EpirusNorthern EpirusNorthern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
: Northern Epirotes, Autonomous Republic of Northern EpirusAutonomous Republic of Northern EpirusThe Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded on February 28, 1914, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, by the Greeks living in southern Albania ....
, Protocol of CorfuProtocol of CorfuThe Protocol of Corfu , signed on May 17, 1914, was an agreement between representatives of the Albanian Government and the Provisional Government of Northern Epirus, which officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as an autonomous region within the Albanian state... - Pindus Mountains
- SouliotesSouliotesSouliotes were a warlike community from the area of Souli, in Greece, who became famous across Greece for their resistance against the local Ottoman Pashalik of Yanina ruled by the Muslim Albanian Ali Pasha...
- Vikos–Aoös National Park