Igoumenitsa

Living around its port: this has been the destiny of Igoumenitsa since the 1950s. There is a fact that more than any other explains the development of the territory: in the immediate post-war period the inhabitants of Gomenizza (the Italian name of the city) were about 300; currently, however, they are around 20,000.

Numbers that explain an economic growth in many ways similar to that of Brindisi, in Italy. It must be said, however, that the city has paid a price previously: the Second World War, in fact, did not spare Igoumenitsa, so much so that the historic center does not have buildings of great architectural interest.

In other words,the urban stratification in which the Venetian, Greek and Albanian traces were evident has disappeared under the weight of the bombs and in its place a residential building has arisen over the years, obviously linked to the growth of port activities.

Therefore a commercial city, door of trade with the Balkans (Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria) and landing place for hundreds of thousands of tourists from the ports of Venice, Ancona, Bari and Brindisi who disembark in Igoumenitsa and then continue their holiday elsewhere: in the nearby Corfu, or in another of the Ionian islands (especially Zakynthos and Kefalonia).

As for the things to see we point out the Archaeological Museum, whose finds offer a complete overview of the millenary history of the region (Epirus), and the Castle that stands on the hill behind the city. Although it was almost completely destroyed in 1685 in the war between the Venetians and the Turks , the western tower and part of the walls can still be visited.