Perama Cave

Our first stop of the day was in the Cave of Perama. It is one of the first caves in Greece that was open for tourist to visit.

A little history

Rumour said that the cave was know from the 1900 but was closed in 1907 by the Bey Choliasis Efentis. Since then its existence was forgotten until 1940 when the residents of Perama seeked shelter from the bombardements. It has never being explored in death until the 1951 when geologies and speleologist Ioannis Petrochilos learned about the existence of the cave and stated it’s exploitation

Like with most caves photographs are not allowed so this is the only one I manage to get just before entering the cave.

The view when existing the caves

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Ioannina Castle

Little history

The castle was built in 528 AD by emperor Justinian for the fortification of the Byzantine state. It is one of the most ancient byzantine castle and burring the reign of Ali Pasa constituted on of the largest command center of Greece.

On the photos below you can see remainings of the byzantine fortifications and Ali Pasa’s mosque.

The beautiful sunset form the byzantine walls.

It was the time for diner some we room the lovely streets of Ioannina city center for a nice place to it

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Lake of Aoou

We left the beautiful town of Ioannina and drove further north of Kastoria.

On our way we took a little detour around the artificial Lake of Aoou. I grew up in Crete I’m not used to seeing snow, and I have to say that I was impressed (and a little scared) of all the snow and ice on the road.

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Kastoria

After around 3h of driving (indlusing our little detour) we arrive at Kastoria. The town is situated on the western shore of Lake Orestiada, in a valley surrounded by limestone mountains. The town is known for its many Byzantine churches, Byzantine and Ottoman-era domestic architecture, its lake and its fur clothing industry.

We checked into our hotel and then had a nice walk next to the like as the sun set before heading for diner.

This is is for day 3 and 4 of our Christmas holiday in northern Greece.