Ioannina (Ιωάννινα [ioˈanina], often Γιάννενα [ˈʝanena] or
Γιάννινα [ˈʝanina]/;) is a city of Epirus, north-western Greece,
with a metropolitan population of approximately 100,000, and
lies at an elevation of 600 metres above sea level. It is the
capital of Ioannina Prefecture and of Epirus, lying on the
western side of lake Pamvotis (Παμβώτιδα). Ioannina is located
450 km northwest of Athens, 290 km southwest of Thessaloniki and
80 km east of the port of Igoumenitsa in the Ionian Sea. The
city has both a General and a University Hospital, and is the
seat of the University of Ioannina (situated 5 km south of the
city, with 17 departments and 20,000 students) as well as
several departments of the Τechnological Educational Institute
of Epirus , the headquarters of which are located in Arta. The
city's emblem consists of the portrait of the Byzantine Emperor
Justinian crowned by a stylized depiction of the nearby ancient
theatre of Dodoni. The first indications of human existence in
the prefecture of Ioannina ar