The service of the G.A.C. – Historical Archive of Epirus is housed in the “Soufari Serai” (Horsemen’s Hall), a building complex from the Ottoman period, which defines the monumental character of the Castle and the lakeside area of the city of Ioannina in general.

It was built at the time when Ali Pasha was the valet of Ioannina. In this building, the later chieftains of the Greek Revolution of 1821, Georgios Karaiskakis, Odysseus Androutsos, Markos Botsaris and Athanasios Diakos were trained in the art of war. The mounted gendarmerie was hosted and after the liberation of Ioannina, parts of the Greek army were also housed from time to time.

The main building, from a technical point of view, is built with the typical clay masonry of the last two centuries of the Turkish occupation, small stones interrupted from time to time by horizontal stone strips. There are four two-storey parallel buildings with arches and a gable roof. The elongated building (560 sq.m.) was used as an auxiliary storage area for ammunition, supplies and a galley for military purposes with the concession of use and surrounding area by the Ministry of Culture for the needs of the Historical Archive-Museum of Epirus (YΠΠOΤ/ΔΑΑΠ/F.04Β-255/4691/1533/3-1-2011).

Ali’s general desire, superstition and mania for the construction of fortresses, fortresses, warehouses and armouries “dervishis foretold him that he would die if he built them”, is expressed in the imposing rectangular two-storey architectural monument (2500 sq. m), with four corner Gothic niches in the middle of a wide courtyard with an arched staircase rising on the south side, which was intended for the barracks of the bodyguards and cavalry. His main concern was to modernize the army, to train cavalry with soldiers and officers according to European standards in warfare. The engineers Joseph Claude Marie Charbonnel (1775-1846), Julien Bessières and Poitevin were selected from the prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars who were aboard the same ship, imprisoned at the Fortezza Nuova in Corfu, escaped and entered the service of Ali Pasha (21/22 November 1803).Ali’s general desire, superstition and mania for the construction of fortresses, fortresses, warehouses and armouries “dervishis foretold him that he would die if he built them”, is expressed in the imposing rectangular two-storey architectural monument (2500 sq. m), with four corner Gothic niches in the middle of a wide courtyard with an arched staircase rising on the south side, which was intended for the barracks of the bodyguards and cavalry. His main concern was to modernize the army, to train cavalry with soldiers and officers according to European standards in warfare. The engineers Joseph Claude Marie Charbonnel (1775-1846), Julien Bessières and Poitevin were selected from the prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars who were aboard the same ship, imprisoned at the Fortezza Nuova in Corfu, escaped and entered the service of Ali Pasha (21/22 November 1803).

The main objective is the systematic presentation of exhibits, archival documents, independent studies and objects to pupils, students, researchers and visitors so that visual communication and actions broaden the field of knowledge, approach Science, Technology and Art experientially, enhance communication and cooperation, giving a coherent and aesthetically perfect result. The use of all available media and tools to evoke tactile and sound stimuli from the user was an interesting field of experimentation, research and application of new techniques and solutions in terms of composition, design and implementation. Applications, different ways of approaching through the senses (sight, hearing, touch), printed applications, exhibition design (captions, navigation memos) make use of all available media and tools to evoke tactile and audio stimuli from the user. Research and implementation aims to explore new techniques and solutions in terms of composition, design and implementation.