JOANN INA, the capital of Albania, and, next to Sa lonika, Adrianople, and Widdin, the most considerable place in European Turkey. It is said to have been found ed by Michael Lucas Sebastocrator, and by the despot Tho'mas, who conquered Amurath Bey, the general of Amurath II , in 1424. It stands on the west bank, and near the northern extremity, of a large lake ; and is about two miles and a half in length, and in some places nearly a mile in breadth. The ground on which it is built begins to rise and to become uneven towards the north and west, and a triangular peninsula, jutting into the lake, and de fended by fortifications, contains the residence of the pasha. There are two principal streets, one running nearly the whole length of the town, and the other cutting it at right angles, and extending to the fortress. Many of the houses are large and well built. The bazar, or the street inha bited by tradesmen, is well furnished with shops of a showy appearance ; and the bizestein, or covered bazar, is of considerable size. There is a summer residence of the vizier in the suburbs, at the north-west end of the town, built in the form of a pavilion, in a very superior style ; containing a large saloon, floored with marble, and situated in the midst of a garden, which is filled with the fruit-trees of the country, but otherwise in a wild and tangled state.
The first view of Joannina, on the road from Arta, is ex tremely beautiful. The houses, domes, and minarets, ap pear glittering through groves of orange, lemon, and cypress trees ; and the lake spreads its smooth expanse at the foot of the city, while the mountains rise abruptly from its banks. The lake is about 10 or 12 miles in length, and three in breadth, stretching from north-west to south south-east, and containing two woody islands, one of which, towards the south, is of considerable size. On the western side of the lake arc seen a beautiful verdant plain, the whole line of the town, and a long succession of groves and gardens ; and, on the north and cast, a chain of lofty mountains, one range of which, running from north to south, called Tontorh, is the ancient Toinasus, and ano ther, from north to south-east, called Metzovo, is the ancient Pindus, dividing that part of Albania from the plains of Thcssaly. The southern extremity of the lake extends into a hilly country, and forms at last a small river, wnich disappears for a few miles before it reaches the marsh on the banks of the gulph of Arta ; and hence, by some geographers, has been improperly styled the ancient Acheron, which did not flow into the Ambracian, but the Thesprotian Gulph.
The population of Joannina is computed at the lowest tc be 35 000, of which one-tenth are Mahometans, and the remainder Christians, with a few Jews. The Greek citi zens are considered as a distinct race from the inhabitants of the adjacent country, and are supposed to be descended from ancient settlers who had retired from Peloponnesus. They arc remarkably industrious, and excel in works of embroidery. Except the priests, and a few persons em ployed by the pasha, they are all engaged in trade ; and many of them have spent three or four years in thc mer cantile houses of Trieste, Genoa, Leghorn, Vienna, and Venice. They arc, in genet-at, well acquainted with the manners and 'languages of Christendom ; and the town al together affords a very safe and agreeable residence to travellers. The inhabitants are subject to tertian fevers during the spring and autumn seasons, which has been ascribed to the vicinity of the lake; and the islands in the lake are said to be visited with earthquakes, especially in the month of October.
The annual revenue, drawn from the city by the pasha, is said to be 250,000 piastres. A fair is held once a-year about a mile and a half from the city, and continues for the space of a fortnight. On that occasion, all the tradesmen in the city are obliged to shut their shops, and to erect booths in the fair, resembling those of England, which are regularly arranged like streets, and thus afford a full view of the merchandise of the place. There are caps from Trieste, Leghorn, and Genoa; knives, sword-blades, gun barrels, glass and paper from Venice ; some coffee and sugar from Trieste ; gold and silver thread from Vienna. But the chief articles of importation are French and Ger man cloths from Leipsic, which are purchased by all the richer Greeks and Turks of the neighbouring countries for winter robes and pelisses. English cloth is the most esteemed, blit is seldom met with, on account of its high price; and the best of what is sold at the fair of Joannina is not equal to the worst of English fabric. The articles of exportation are, oil, wool, corn, and tobacco for Naples, and the ports of the Adriatic; spun cottons for the plains of Tiiccola ; stocks of gulls and pistols, embroidered vel vets, stuffs, and cloths, for the inland consumption of Alba nia and Romclia. Large flocks of sheep and goats, and droves of cattle and horses, from the hills of Albania, are collected also at this fair, and sold for the Ionian Islands. The balance of trade is in favour of Joannina, and is paid in Venetian sequins. See Hobhouse's Tour in Albania, and H dland's Travels in Greece. (q)