Inside the Citadel grounds the most striking landmark is the Fetiye Mosque. Outside is a strange gate shaped object. This is in fact the Tomb of Ali Pasha, the celebrated local warlord who rebelled against Ottoman rule in the region.

Yesterday we had also visited his castle in Gjirokaster Albania which also detailed his history and that of the region in the castle museum (see entry http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/31/1447181288/tpod.html )

Entrance into the Mosque was included in the ticket to the Byzantine Museum (previous entry). The Mosque is now a museum with exhibits detailing the oriental Ottoman age.

There were lots of art illustrations and local crafts from the time. All the descriptions were in Greek.

The Mosque itself has been beautifully restored with original colours restored on the plasterwork.

The third part of the Citadel complex along with the Byzantine Museum is the Treasury, also included in the combo ticket.

The Treasury housed a collection of gold items, jewels, belts, and other crafts.

Visible outside the Citadel is the minaret of the Aslan Pasha Mosque, the towns second Mosque. As we navigated our way there we passed thru what remains of the old Turkish quarter.

There were a couple of domes which I thought was a Hammam (Turkish bath). The sign indicated it was infact the Turkish library, not something I had seen before in Turkish towns.

There were then more domes which was infact the Hammam.

The Mosque is now housed inside another walled area, now the city's Ethnography Museum. Outside were canon balls, graves, and madrassa (school)

Entrance to the museum was 2 Eu ($3). The museum has incorporated the outside architecture into the exhibits.

Like the Fetiye Mosque the Aslan Pasha Mosque is also richly restored inside. This was a surprising experience in Greece considering relations with Turkey over Cyprus and how neglected the Ottoman remnants were in Thessaloniki.

I think Ali Pasha plays more into Greek nationalism and the town has no other major tourist attractions so cherishes the heritage it has. Relations with Albania have historically been better than those with Turkey and the region plays an important part in Albanian nationalism also hence the contrast with Thessaloniki.

The Ethnography section in the outer portions had a mix of military items and local folk and traditional costumes.

There was an elaborate display of local costumes along with more local crafts.

Next was the Jewish section. There were vibrant Jewish communities throughout the Balkans under Ottoman rule upto WWII when the Nazi's ravaged the regions Jews.

The Jewish community is now quite small and a Rabbi will visit from Athens to perform services when needed.

It was quite interesting exploring the diversity and heritage of Ioannina (Janina) which was an important provincial centre under Ottoman rule and the seat of Ali Pasha. This is a lessor known corner of Greece that most tourists neglect to visit.