Byzantine Museum

The best sight within the sublime Its Kale (Inner Citadel; h08:00-17:00, 20:00-22:00 Tue-Sun)is the Byzantine Museum , housed in two buildings near the Fetiye Cami(Victory Mosque), which include Ali Pasha's former palace. The museum features early Christian and Byzantine art, pottery, coins and silverware, and even post-Byzantine icons and manuscripts. The priceless treasures include early printed Greek books from Venice and ornate silver jewellery boxes with cloisonné enamel. Textual accompaniments give a fascinating overview of Ioannina's history from the 4th to the 17th century, and divulge other unexpected facts, like that the Rome-based jewellery empire, Bulgari, was actually founded by humble Epirot émigré Sotirios Voulgaris in 1885.