Around 10km further, while heading north towards the coastal fishing village of Sagiada close to the Albanian border, is the Monastery of Ragio. Dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, the monastery was founded during the first centuries of the Byzantine Empire. At its peak it had large land holdings and 150 monks, along with many important sacred relics and books. It was burnt and looted many times during the Ottoman period, the last episode in 1725. Preserved to this day is the katholikon of the monastery which is adorned throughout with wall-paintings dated to the first half of the 17th century. 51
FIG 40 | Monastery of Ragio 52
2.5 Traditions and activities related to the monument, to the sea and the area The promotion and enhancement of the touristic value of the Castle of Igoumenitsa has been the priority of the municipal authority of the town from as early as the end of the 1960s. As reported in the local press in 1969, an evaluation was carried out in the area of the (fortress) in order to construct a small cafe for visitors and to designate a number of walkways. Some decades later, the hill of “Dioikitirion” (headquarters of the region) was again in the spotlight as a suggested location for the construction of an Archaeological Museum in the town, a longstanding goal of the citizens of Thesprotia. The proposal was abandoned during the following decades, with the museum constructed elsewhere in the town during the 2000s. During excavations at the castle in October 2000, as part of the trenching for the planting of trees on the slope of the hill, a tile covered burial dated to the late Roman period was uncovered, containing a small number of grave goods. Amongst these was an oil lamp decorated with the face of the goddess Athena, which was subsequently adopted as the emblem of the Municipality of Igoumenitsa. Despite being located in the middle of the modern town, the castle has up until now, not been successfully integrated within its social and cultural life. Moderate intervention in the past was mainly concentrated on the clearance of thick vegetation, allowing for only limited public access or occasional school visits or other educational programmes. In addition, for a considerable length of time during the 2000s, the wooded area around the castle was used as a camp of refugees and immigrants, thus limiting its recreational use by local citizens. It is only during the last five years that greater effort has been directed towards improving the area, for example through the promotion of sporting activities such as cycling. 53
FIG 41 | Daily newspaper Eleftheron Vima. 15‐7‐1969 FIG 42 | Clay lamp with relief decoration, depicting Athena. 2nd ‐ 3rd c. A.D. Archaeo- logical Museum of Igoumenitsa 54
FIG 43 | Organized groups and students visiting the castle of Igoumenitsa 55
FIG 44 | Educational program in the castle of Igoumenitsa 56
Interventions such as the regeneration of the pine grove and the restoration and promotion work carried out in parallel by the Municipality of Igoumenitsa and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thesprotia are aimed towards improving the attractiveness of the area for locals and visitors alike. One particular advantage of the area is the port of Igoumenitsa, which is geographically close to Italy, as well as other Balkan countries along the Adriatic coast. As such it functions as an important bridge for both people and cargo, to and from Western Europe. In terms of Greece, the harbour is well connected to Corfu and Patra and in Italy to the ports of Bari, Brindisi, Ancona, Venice, Trieste and Ravenna. Following the expansion of its facilities and the upgrading of the services provided, the new Port of Igoumenitsa has set itself the goal of becoming an important centre for the Mediterranean cruise industry, with moorings located close to the city and facilities to supply and service the liners. The completion of this infrastructure work will improve the ease with which the various points of interest around the town can be visited, not only by locals but also those passing through during the few hours that the liners are in port, making the town a much more friendly and welcoming place. 57
FIG 45 | General view of the new port of Igoumenitsa FIG 46 | The modern facilities of the port 58
3. ΤΕRRITORIAL EXTENT 59
60
3.1 Connections with the territory 61
4. SURVEY OF THE MONUMENT 62
63
4.1 Metric - Architectonic survey FIG 47 | Castle drawings.1 999 64
FIG 48 | SE Fortification (external part) 65
FIG 49 | SW Fortification (external part) 66
FIG 50 | NW Fortification (external part) 67
FIG 51 | SE fortification (internal part) 68
FIG 52 | SW Fortification (internal part) 69
FIG 53 | Groundplan 70
5. Source of photos FIG 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35, 40, 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53: Archive Ephorate of An- tiquities of Thesprotia FIG 7, 8, 9, 18: Archive “ΚΙΜΕΘΕ” (Thesprotia Center for Historical Studies) FIG 10: Archive Tasos Roubis FIG 11: Archive Prefecture of Thesprotia FIG 12, 13: Archive Ekaterini Laskaridis Foundation FIG 14, 29: Archive “ΕΛΙΑ-ΜΙΕΤ” (Greek literary and historical archive) FIG 16, 28: Archive Pitoulis family FIG 30: Archive Stefanos Stournaras FIG 36, 37, 38: Archive Babis Lazaris FIG 15: Marneli-Pitouli P., Η πολιτεία και ο δημιουργός της, Athens, Ioannina 1986 FIG 31: Marnelos D., Georgiadou Z., Frangou D. 2015, \"Hotel furniture in Greek modernity. Xenia and Amalia hotels cases”, pp 31, 33 FIG 33: https://igoumenitsa.gr/el/home/gia-ton-episkepti/mouseia/to-spiti-tis-renas FIG 45, 46: https://olig.gr/ FIG 39: Photo Natasa Koukoula 71
6. Bibliography I. Andreou – Ek. Papadimitriou, Κάστρο Ηγουμενίτσας, Μελέτη Τ.Ε.Ε. – Τμήμα Ηπείρου, Igoumenitsa 1999 S. Dakaris, Θεσπρωτία, Athens 1972 F. Kefallonitou—I. Pitouli Moebious, Κάστρο Ηγουμενίτσας. Μελέτη στερέωσης, αποκατάστασης, ανάδειξης, Io- annina 2002 (Unpublished study) S. Mouselimis, Αρχαιότητες της Θεσπρωτίας, (2nd Edition) Ioannina 2001 V. Psimouli, Σούλι και Σουλιώτες, Athens 2006 G. Smyris, «Κάστρο Ηγουμενίτσας», Δίκτυα οχυρωματικής αρχιτεκτονικής, Αθήνα 2001, 135‐136 G. Smyris, Το δίκτυο των οχυρώσεων στο Πασαλίκι των Ιωαννίνων (1788 – 1822), Ioannina 2004 G. Smyris, Τα θεσπρωτικά παράλια από το τέλος της Ενετοκρατίας έως την ανάπτυξη του «πασαλικίου» των Ιωαννίνων (1792-1822). Αμυντικοί και επιθετικοί σχηματισμοί, Θεσπρωτία 1. Α΄ Διεθνές Αρχαιολογικό και Ιστορικό Συνέδριο για τη Θεσπρωτία, Ioannina 2019, 645-658 Texts and photos of the periodical exhibition \"Images of the city in time\", Archaeological Museum of Ig- oumenitsa, European Days of Cultural Heritage 2013 Ephorate of Antiquities of Thesprotia, “Eπικαιροποίηση - εξειδίκευση μελέτης στερέωσης και ανάδειξης Κάστρου Ηγουμενίτσας”, Igoumenitsa 2020 (Unpublished study) 72
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