The building stratigraphy

 Ottoman rule

The initial use of the current library building dates back to 1618 or 1635, when the Muslim Lelipara or Mehmet Aga mosque was built. His founder was Mehmet Aga, son of Alexander Leliparas, of the great noble Castle family of Knights Hospitaller (The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John), of Byzantine descent.

Leliparas, Peliparas (possibly as paraphrase of letter L, as stated in Aravantinos, Chronography v.A, p.165, note1), Liliparas, Laliparas, Lelparas, Lalparé, the name itself is initially found, according to Kosmas Balanos, in the Byzantine chronicler Nikitas Choniatis as “Georgios Komninos, referred to as Leliparas”. Descendants of a populous family, the Leliparas family participated in the Delegation οf handing over the key of the city of Ioannina. It appears that the noble family of Leliparas converted to Islam around 1635, in order to retain its timar, according to the decree of Murat 4^th. It was the time of widespread conversion, so that the populous stock of the Turkified Leliparas retain its timar and establish the Mehmet Aga waqf (Islamic charitable endowment).

Ιn about its three century-operation, the mosque presented two construction stages. During the first stage, it was a simple two-space stone-built building with a tiled roof, and an almost square floor plan covering an area of 154 m²  and 5 m. high. The mosque minaret was supported by a rectangular base, went into a cylindrical design and ended up in a conic edge.  

During the 19^th century, the mosque was extended and presented a different floor plan. The stone-built mosque occupied a 236,40 m²  in a T shape. It was made up of two compartments, the outer (pronaos/temple portico) and the interior (main temple). During the second construction stage, outbuildings were added: the two-storey Poorhouse (Imaret), the Madrasah with its eleven cells, the well and the Mufti residence in a 2,119, 71 m² plot.

The Mosque, along with its Outbuildings, made up part of the Pious Foundation (Vakfname) of Leliparas Mehmet Aga. Its total area and its position upon a hill, in a crowded central spot, adjacent to the administrative and commercial part of the town as well as the significant educational institutions of the time (Yanya Hamidiye Kız Rüşdiyesi, Boy’s School (Arrenagogio), Mekteb-I Idadi-i Mulkisi (Lisesi)), testifies to the family’s elevated social standing and their economic prosperity.  

1913: After the liberation of Ioannina

The Pious Foundation of Leliparas Mehmet Aga, under the supervision of the Ioannina Waqfs, was legally liquidated as per the 30 January 1923 Greek-Turkish Contract on Populations Exchange and was attributed to the management of the NBG (National Bank of Greece).

From 1924 until 1930, the Foundation was used for the housing of Lykeion Ellinidon of Ioannina (Lyceum Club of Greek Women), one out of the three oldest branches of the Lykeion Ellinidon Club that was destined for work provision and the education of the poor refugees, for the Kyriakou School, where 70 poor girls attended and for the Oikokiriki School, where they were taught tailoring and needlework. At the time, Marie Vergioti-Pirsinella, wife of the Mayor Vasilios Pirsinellas (1921-1929), was the president of the Lykeion.

On 20 August 1930, the Contract of the Transaction of the Mosque was signed between the National Bank of Greece (NBG) and the Municipality of Ioannina. The issue of the construction of the building of the Public Baths, a project which was part of the scheduling of the 1931 Municipal Works, was immediately raised. The project was allocated to the Municipal Civil Engineer Periklis Melirritos (1870-1937), a graduate of Zosimaia School and the School of Industrial Arts (precursor of National Metsovio Polytechnic School). The opening of the Public Baths, the first cultural project of the capital of Epirus, took place on Sunday 29/11/1931.

The building served its purpose, with breaks mandated by historical conditions, until 1970. Since then, the building housed the Club of Greek Alkimon of the city (1970-1971), the University Student Club of Ioannina (05/08/1972 – 31/05/1978), the Municipal Water Supply Company and the Organization of Epirus Theatre (O.I.T.) (1975-1980).

The poor condition in which the building had come to and the need for its financial exploitation led to lengthy discussions over the immediate use of the former Public Baths Municipal property. Initially, its use as an Art Gallery was suggested, with paintings from the Association “Friends of Ioannina”, artefacts bequeathed by Alexandros Pallis, Byzantine Museum artefacts, and donor and well as Municipal benefactor portraits.

The housing of Zosimaia Library

At the time, Zosimaia Library was housed in the Building of the Branch of the National Bank of Ioannina (today’s Town Hall), a building that had been fervently desired and claimed by the Municipality of Ioannina for years. The heated rivalry ended in 1986, with the Contract “Over the establishment of a right in rem under easement for the housing of Zosimaia Epirus Library for life over the building of the former Public Baths, 10.000.000 drachmas worth”. Ioannis Kamberis (1924-1996) took over the expenditure for the addition of a floor and space configuration in the building of the former Public Baths, with the addition of an extra floor and the remaking of the interior. 

On 25 April 1988, the opening of Zosimaia Public Library of Ioannina took place.