St Panteleimon
The room where Ali Pasha died, bullet holes still in the floorboards.
**An inhabited island in a lake, with no cars and no name** โ people simply call it **Nisi**, "the island", and it is one of very few inhabited lake islands in Europe. About **two hundred people** live here in a single small village of stone houses and narrow lanes where no car passes โ reached **by boat from the Ioannina shore in ten minutes**. Scattered among its trees are **six Byzantine monasteries** from the 13th to the 16th centuries, some with preserved frescoes. The best known is the **monastery of St Panteleimon**, because it is where **Ali Pasha was killed** in 1822: besieged here, he was shot from the floor below, through the floorboards. **The bullet holes are still in the wood**, and the room is now a **small museum**. โ The island's tavernas specialise in **lake fish**, frogs and water snakes โ โ and for anyone cautious: **ask what is in a dish**, because the menus can surprise.
The room where Ali Pasha died, bullet holes still in the floorboards.
A car-free stone village in the middle of a lake and its trees.
Ten minutes by boat, with the citadel seen from the water.
Nisi, Lake Pamvotida, 45500 Ioannina, Greece
**A documented episode, and the room where it happened still bears the marks.** โ **The context**: after ruling the **Pashalik of Ioannina** for decades as a semi-independent sovereign, Ali Pasha was marked for removal by the Ottoman state. An army came and besieged Ioannina, and he fell back until he took refuge in the **monastery of St Panteleimon** on this island in **1822**. โ **What happened**: envoys came with a supposed settlement, fighting broke out, and **he was shot from the floor below, through the wooden floorboards** โ from beneath rather than in front of him. His head was then cut off and sent to Istanbul. โ **What you see today**: that room is now a **small museum** with period objects, paintings and displays, **and the bullet holes are still visible in the wood**. โ **Calibrate your expectations**: the museum is **very small** with limited explanation, and its value is the place rather than the collection.
**A lake cuisine, not a sea one โ and some of it is unfamiliar, so asking is necessary.** โ **What is usually served**: **lake fish** (small fried whitebait, carp, smoked eel), **lake crayfish**, **frogs** and **water snakes** โ and those last are **genuinely traditional local dishes** in Ioannina, not a tourist novelty. โ **Hence the first rule: ask.** Greek dish names will not tell you, and translated menus can be vague. Ask directly "what is this?" โ the waiters are used to the question. โ **For Muslim travellers specifically**: beyond the above, **wine is used in the cooking** and pork appears in other dishes โ **ask about every dish** and do not assume. โ **The safe, well-known options**: **simple grilled fish**, salads, cooked vegetables, and the **local pies (pites)** โ for which Ioannina is genuinely famous.
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