Again we stopped for a few days in Ioannina staying at the campsite by the lake and walked into town drifting between cafes.
Folk Museum
We visited the folk art museum which is housed in a 19th century Ottoman Manor House.
It displays traditional costumes of the area , musical instruments and household items such as looms and old kitchen utensils.
Many of the outfits were felted overcoats with rich embroidery elaborated with red silk strings
Wooden Carvings
We went to a fascinating exhibition called “Carving wood, sculpting memory with the shepherds of Haliki” housed in the Gadi Foundation in Ioannina.
For centuries shepherds have taken their flocks up from the lowland plains of Thessaly to summer in the cooler pastures of Haliki in the Pindos mountains.
Natasha Drisou-Lemonos, who curated the exhibition, has interviewed shepherds over many years. She transcribed their words to accompany some beautiful black and white photographs mainly from the 1950s to the present day.
The shepherds use wooden crooks which they carve with intricate patterns. Some were displayed in the exhibition together with some beautiful crooks, boxes and other objects carved by the wood sculptor, Christos Gevrou.
Jews in Ioannina
The old synagogue is located within the walled Castro.
It is likely that the synagogue survived the German occupation as a result of the actions of the mayor of Ioannina, Dimitios Vlachides. It seems he convinced the Germans that the Greeks would use the building as a library and that the Torah scrolls and other sacred material should be placed in the municipal museum.
After the war the handful of Holocaust survivors returning to Ioannina sent these to other synagogues including Jerusalem. Many Israelis visit this area and there are three direct flights to Ioannina from Tel Aviv every day!
We have written more about the Jews in Ioannina in our 2019 trip.
https://judyandvalerieontheroad.com/index.php/category/trip/greece-2019/