From Leliparades to Zosimaia Public Central Historic Library of Ioannina

The 13th-century State of Epirus emerged from the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, with Michael I Komnenos Doukas as its founder.

Epirus became the new home of Greek refugees from Constantinople. The Byzantine families settled in the Castle of Ioannina and founded a new class of settlers, the “Kastrinoi Ioannites”. This was an aristocracy of multi-branched and powerful Byzantine families, who transformed the original townlet of Ioannina into a rising city with economic and intellectual potential. During this period, the city of Ioannina was “was full of inhabitants, flourishing with wealth and boasting all other things”.

In 1318, the State of Epirus was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire and the Chrysobulls of Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1319 and 1321 granted privileges to the inhabitants of Ioannina.

A few years later, in 1330, the Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos (1323-1325), Giovanni Orsini, was anointed Despot of Epirus, as John Komnenos Doukas (1323-1335).

Epirus was conquered by the Serbs in 1348 and Ioannina was ruled by the Serbian ruler Thomas II Prelubo or Preljubović or Thomas II Komnenos Prelubo Palaiologos, his wife being Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina, until 1384. This is the period when the city of Ioannina experienced its first recorded Ottoman invasions. The Ottomans operate in the area, as allies of Preljubović.

In 1385-1411, Isau or Isau Buondelmonti, of Florentine origin, became “Despot” of Ioannina and, in 1411-1429, he was succeeded by Carlo I Tocco, Count Palatine of Cephalonia, Zakynthos (c. 1376-1429) and Duke of Lefkada, as "Despot" of Epirus (1411-1429) and Baron of Vostitsa.

In 1430, the Ioannites receive a warning letter to submit from Sultan Murad II. Becoming aware of the enormous growth and expansion rate of the Ottoman state, following the capture of Thessaloniki on March 29, 1430, and learning about the voluntary submission of approximately 500 families at Zagori, they decided to surrender consensually, on one condition: to hand over the key of the city to Murad II himself so that the promised privileges could be agreed upon and secured. On October 9, 1430, the delegation of Ioannina consisting of the Kastrinoi Strategopoulos, Protomaistor Buisavos, Protasekritis Stanitzis, Lelyparas, Papoulis, Serbanos, etc. go outside Thessaloniki (at today's Kleidi) in order to hand over the key of the city of Ioannina to Murad II. Sultan Murad II granted a firman and a Hatt-ı şerîf (sacred edict) was signed which secured the self-government privileges both religious and political of the Ioannites.

The new city developed mainly with the participation of the Christian element, as evidenced by the Ottoman sources of the 16th century. The Christians of Ioannina continued to inhabit the castle’s interior, while the Muslims lived outside the walls and made up 10% of the population.

With the unsuccessful revolt of Dionysius Philosophos or Skylosophos, Bishop of Larissa, in 1611, the Christian Ioannites were expelled from the castle and lost their privileges. The Kastrinoi lost their properties, with the result that many of them became Islamized in order to retain, if not all, at least part of their property. One such case is the noble family of the Lelyparas.

The first use of the site is attested from 1618 or 1635 when the Muslim mosque of Lelyparas or Mehmet Agha was built. It was founded by Mehmet Agha, son of Alexandros Lelyparas, son of the great Kastrinoi Ioannite noble family of Byzantine extraction.

Lelyparas, Pelyparas, Leliparas, Liliparas, Laliparas, Lelparas, Lalpare. The name first appears, according to Kosmas Balanos, in the Byzantine chronicler Niketas Choniates as “Georgios Komnenos, as called Leliparas”. Descendants of this large family joined the Delegation that handed over the key of the city of Ioannina. The noble Lelyparas family seems to have been Islamized around 1635, in order to keep their timars, according to the Edict of Murad IV. This was the period of extensive Islamisation. As such, the multitudinous generation, now Turkified, managed to keep their timars and founded the waqf of Mehmet Aga. The Mehmet Agha Mosque was located next to the Ottoman Headquarters and Barracks in Konakiou Square or Central Square of the city of Ioannina and was the eponym of the entire district, the Mehmet Agha Quarter.

In its first building phase, the mosque was a simple stone-built structure, with two rooms and a tiled roof, almost square in floor plan, with an area of 154 sq. m and a height of 5 m. The minaret of the mosque rested on a rectangular base, followed by a cylindrical construction and a conical end.

During the 19th century, the mosque was extended and showed a different floor plan. Near the mosque, a Poorhouse and Madrasa were built by Djelali Pasha (19th century). In this second construction phase, it appears on the same plot, with a total area of 2,119.71 sq. m. The stone-built mosque now occupies 236.40 sq. m and consists of two compartments, the exterior (vestibule/narthex) and the interior (nave). The shape of the building is depicted as mixed, as it was extended by creating a space at the entrance (portico) and increasing the space of the main hall. Its minaret remains at 5m high.

Following the liberation of Ioannina, in 1913, the Endowment of Lalpare Mehmet Agha, under the supervision of the Waqfs of Ioannina, was legally liquidated according to the Greek-Turkish Convention of January 30, 1923, on the Exchange of Populations, and was placed under NBG administration.

The City Council meeting [15 May 1931] held to discuss “On the Designation of a Site for the Construction of the Municipal Baths”, raised the issue of the construction of the Municipal Baths building, a project whose implementation was part of the Municipal Works program for the year 1931.

In the Minutes of the City Council Meeting of the Municipality of Ioannina of July 31, 1931, the expenditure appropriations for the demolition of the Mehmet Agha Mosque on M. Botsari and V. Olgas street were submitted and approved. The project of the Municipal Baths was assigned to Municipal Engineer Mr. Pericles Melirritos, who was tasked with carrying out the technical and financial studies as well as planning the budget expenditure.

The inauguration of the Municipal Baths took place on Sunday, November 29, 1931, and was characterized as the first civilizing project of the Capital of Epirus.

The building served this use, intermittently and due to historical circumstances, until 1970. Since then, it has housed the Greek Alkimoi Club of the city (1970-1971), the Ioannina Student Association (05/08/1972-31/05/1978), the Municipal Water Supply Service, and the Epirus Theatre Organization (1975-1980).

The poor condition of the building and the need for its economic exploitation led to extensive discussions on the immediate utilization of the Municipal property of the former Municipal Baths. The initial proposal was to be used as a Gallery.

During this time, the Zosimaia Library in Epirus was housed in the building of the Ioannina Branch of the NBG (today's City Hall), a building which the Municipality of Ioannina ever desired and was claiming for years. The intense disputes ended in 1986, with the contract Deed creating an incorporeal right of restricted personal servitude of 10,000,000 drachmas”. Ioannis Kamperis (1924-1996) undertook the costs of adding an extra floor and re-developing the interiors of what used to be the former Municipal Baths building.

On April 25, 1988, the Zosimaia Central Public Library of Ioannina, a legal entity governed by public law of the Ministry of Education, was inaugurated in the building in which it is still housed today.