Gymnasio Peramatos

Ioannina, Greece

Erasmus+ Programme

Living beside the water

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Hello! My name is Otter Pamvotis. I inhabit in the lake Pamvotis of Ioannina and I'm going to present to you the story of my lake.

Pamvotis is one of the oldest lakes in the world and the second oldest in Europe after lake Achrida.

It is estimated to be 7 million years old.

Until the end of 1950, Pamvotis lake was double in size because it was connected to the Lapsista lake through a canal. 

Today though, this second lake has been drained. 

The name Pamvotis means ‘’Feeder of everything’’.

It is also known as the lake of Lady Frosyni.

The name Pamvotis is mentioned for the first time during the 12th century from Ephstathius, a Byzantine scholar and priest, in his comments on Homer’s Odyssey. 

The earlier references of the lake itself though, can be found in the work of Procopius, the historian of emperor Justinian, ‘’Buildings’’ where he mentions the foundation of the fortress of Ioannina. (AD 527-528).

The earlier evidence of life around the lake is teeth and bones found in Perama cave, next to the lake.

These belonged to husky bears that ceased to exist in Eurasia about 200,000 years ago.

Stone bead. Palaeolithic period.

Cyclope shell. Palaeolithic period

Burin.

Palaeolithic period.

The first record of human life around the lake is from 20,000 BC. Thousands of material and cultural findings of nomad hunters were discovered in the cave of the hill of Kastritsa, a village next to the lake.

Lake Pamvotis is closely intertwined with the town of Ioannina, in a way that one cannot exist without the other.

The history of the lake is mainly connected to:

-       The castle of Ioannina which is built in a small peninsula on the banks of the lake.

-       The island of the lake, the only inhabited island in a lake in Europe which is not known with any specific name other than ‘’the Island’’.

The first record of human existence in the island is estimated to be during the Bronze age.

The settlement of the island is chronologically located probably before the 10th century AD. 

During the 13th century the construction of the monasteries began along with the development of monasticism and ascetism.



The monastery of Philanthropinon is exceptional for the various wall paintings in the interior.

Among them there are even depictions of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece. The existence of such pre-Christian features  is rare for the Byzantine and post-Byzantine art. 

The most visited attraction of the island is the monastery of Saint Panteleimon since Ali Pasha was murdered there in 1822.

The castle of Ioannina is an inhabited castle built during the 6th century AD, on a small rocky peninsula that is extended in the lake Pamvotis. 

Its current form is an inspiration of Ali Pasha who reconstructed the castle from its foundation in 1815.

The history of the town of Ioannina, Epirus and generally the broader area of the Balkans is full of legends based on historical events and the lake of Ioannina is not an exception.

It is widely known as the lake of legends and tradition.

The most well-known story, although not so important historically, is the drowning of Lady Frosyni in the lake.

Lady Frosyni was the wife of a merchant and official of the town and the mother of two children.

Ali Pasha ordered her death along with 17 other local women and they were thrown into the lake Pamvotis to be drowned in 1801.

The actual circumstances and reasons of the drowning are not clear or have been altered generally mostly due to the implication of emotional, economical and even national factors.

The tragic death of Lady Frosyni has been an inspiration for local literature and many poems and other work of arts were dedicated to her. The story also became an opera, a novel and a movie.

Frosini's name became a legend along with the castle and the lake, which in the mind of people is called Lady Frosini’s lake.