The Jewish Cemetery of Ioannina is situated on the western edge of the town on Mega Alexandros St, in an area named Agia Triada.
It was once an eight-acre field bought by the community from the Ottoman Turkish Despot, Ali Pasha, in the early 19th century. The history of this cemetery was marked by constant obstacles. Orginally, it was located outside the walls of the fotified city (the Kastro), near the market place. Although nothing remains of that cemetery it is believed that tombstones, many going back to the 13th century, were transferred to later cemeteries. In 1892 another Jewish cemetery was desecrated by the Ottoman authorities and the main site of Jewish burial was transferred to the outskirts of the city, in an area called Kalkan. This later cemetery was leveled in 1922 to build homes for Greek refugees from Asia Minor. It was then that the tombstones were transferred to the field known as Gem, the site of the present Jewish cemetery. At the entrance to the new cemetery is the inscription (translated from the Hebrew):
“The Almighty Who dwells among us has allowed us to erect a wall around this field so they (the deceased) may repose in the land of the living; for the consecration of the Society of the Righteous (Hevra Hesed) and with the notables of the day.“
– by Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos, Museum Director at Kehila Kedosha Janina