The year 1792 is associated with the first official appearance of the Zosimas Brotherhood in the academic life of Ioannina. Theodosios Zosimas, from Leghorn, was very concerned about the future of his alma mater, the Mpalanaia School. Therefore, he responded to a call by his old teacher and school principal, Kosmas Mpalanos, and funded the school’s operation.

The Zosimas brothers entered the educational scene of Ioannina in 1792. Theodosios Zosimas, who lived in Livorno and was a graduate of the Mpalanaia School, was concerned about its future and answered the call of its founder and director, Kosmas Mpalanos. He submitted a benefaction for the Mpalanaia School to the Imperial Orphanage of Moscow with a promissory note for the amount of 60,000 Russian rubles by the Zosimas brothers (no. 935 / 05.11.179

From 1797 until 1815, they were almost exclusively responsible for funding and enriching the school with a sizeable library. The School gradually became increasingly famous, and contemporary sources refer to it as the "Zosimas’ School ".

In 1820, the rebellion of Ali Pasha led to the siege of Ioannina by Sultan Mahmut II's troops. The city was eventually set on fire by order of Ali on August 13, 1820. The conflagration caused massive damage. The Mpalanaia School and the Kaplaneios School burned to the ground with the irreplaceable loss of their libraries.

From 1778-1788 to 1820-1822, the history of Ioannina is associated with the Albanian Muslim Ali Pasha. This controversial and ambitious ruler from Tepelena governed the city of erudition and Enlightenment. Unfortunately, his ability to take advantage of political and diplomatic opportunities at a time of disarray for the Ottoman Empire resulted in his insubordination, his inglorious death, and the burning of Ioannina.

The restoration of peace and security allowed Nikolaos and Zois Zosimas to re-establish the Public General Greek School, which became the first advanced school in Ioannina.

Zois and Nikolaos Zosimas explicitly called the newly established school “Public General Greek School” and not Zosimaia School, unlike most earlier and contemporary founders of schools that have usually included in their will the wish that the institutions they funded be named after them.

The newly established school also housed a library with all the books that survived the 1820 fire. These books previously belonged to the pre-existing libraries of the Kaplaneios and Mpalanaia Schools. The new library included the books published or purchased by the Zosimas brothers.

The Public General Greek School was initially housed in a small Ottoman house in the area of "Spitalia" (Hospital) and "Mnimata" (Jewish cemetery), next to the Baş Karakol Ottoman Gendarmerie Station near the Plateia Evergeton (Benefactors’ Square, currently known as Archbishop Spiridonos Square.

The building was small, and teaching conditions were substandard and miserable for teachers and students alike. These conditions forced the school commissioners, the citizens of Ioannina, and the Zosimas brothers to look for a more suitable building.

In 1831, the Commission of Ioannina Schools started looking for suitable land to build a new school.

In March 1832, Nikolaos Zosimas came up with the idea of founding a school on behalf of the Zosimas brothers. He instigated the purchase of two plots belonging to Malikos and Spyridon Babanikos.

However, the Ottoman authorities rejected the request to establish a Greek School in the Malikos plot because it was across the Liam Mosque (in present-day Alsos), where a Muslim school operated. The proximity of the two educational institutions could cause friction and tension among students and parents.

To avoid this risk, the Commission sent a letter to Nikolaos requesting permission to purchase different plots. They suggested and eventually bought the property of D. Athanassiou and its adjacent Berkos field, where the Zosimaia School, designed by Periklis Melirrytos, is currently located.

The condition of the school building, which does not reflect the large number of students from Ioannina, Epirus, and other regions within and without Greece, demanded a search for a new home or the construction of a new school.

The School and its Library are finally housed in the Athanassiou residence. They are relocated from the small Ottoman house in Arch. Spyridonos Square to the mansion of Dim. Athanasiou in the Tsigara district, in the present-dayDagli and Tsirigoti streets.

From 1833, Nikolaos had started enriching the library collection with books, published for the most part at the expense of the Zosimas brothers.

The School and its Library will operate in this building until 1902.

George Kranas or Aesopos, a student of Athanasios Psalidas, Professor of the Ionian Academy, Head Teacher and first Headmaster of the school, signed a hand-written certificate issued on June 15, 1835, as "teacher of the Zosimaia School". Nikolaos commissioned him to compile a list of essential books for the school library.

A period of discord and dispute between the Commission and the administrators of the Zosimas foundation resulted in the atrophy and plundering of the Library. In a letter to the Community of Ioannina sent in 1839, Nikolaos Zosimas raised his concerns about the "odd behaviour" and “disagreements” among the commissioners, which resulted in the "devastation" of the school and the library. Therefore, he asked the new commissioners to send him copies of the deeds for the four properties that had been purchased, as well as the inventory listing the library's content.

As a result of Zosimas’ discontent, evident in his letters to the Community of Ioannina (from 19/11/1839 to 10/05/1840), Nikolaos stopped sending money and books. The schools closed. The local authorities asked for the intervention of the Ottoman governor, Said Pasha, who relieved the city's primate from his duties and replaced him with Alexios Filios. At the same time, a committee was appointed to control and manage the school’s assets.

On August 9, 1840, Nikolaos finally received a reply concerning the school's library collection condition.

On February 16, 1842 the last of the Zosimas brothers, Nikolaos, passed away in Nizhny. According to his will, written on March 18, 1841, he bequeathed "the entire fortune of the deceased brothers...consisting almost in its entirety of banknotes in the Imperial Orphanage in Moscow...to the city of Ioannina, my homeland, for the support and operation of the establishments listed in this will”.

Over the following years, the School occupied the Athanassiou residence and the adjoining Berkos plot. Following the educational system of the free Greek state, the school was divided in 1852 into a High School with four classes and a Greek School with three classes under a single management financed by the assets of the Zosimas brothers. The acknowledgement of the Public General Greek School as equal to the Great School of the Nation is a testament to the high quality of its services. Its graduates were admitted without exams to the University of Athens.

The inscription on the building façade reads:

The national, social, religious, and cultural value of the School was recognised most eloquently by the local Turk scholar and intellectual Nuri Efendi Patsiantas. He was the brother of Hayri, the primate of Ioannina, who had received a Greek education and was a director of the Ottoman Ministry of the Interior and a graduate of the Zosimas School.

He accompanied Ottoman notables, administrators, officials of various ranks, and businessmen of the prestigious vilayet of Ioannina to the school and asked them to read the inscription. Since nobody understood Greek, he offered to translate the quote. According to him, “this was a massive war factory of the Greeks, preparing the downfall of Turkey by producing day and night weapons, cannons, rifles, and men (conspirators, guerilla fighters, officers, and educated graduates) who would devour and utterly destroy Turkey and the State. Mind you, I graduated from this school and know what it does, how it works, and what troubles it shall instigate for us. You shutter the churches that have caused us no harm over the past 450 years while you and the Sultan leave the Greek schools like this one open. This will not end well for you.”

The school's graduates included Christians, Jews, and Muslims (Ottomans and Albanians) and Nuri Patsiantas was among its students.

The school’s fame was in stark contrast to the condition of the building. Only the inscription above the old entrance implied that someone was entering a school.

Low columns supported the old building to the left. The classes were held on the ground floor and the first floor, accessible through a wooden staircase. Two rooms on the ground floor hosted a remarkable collection of lab equipment for Physics and Chemistry.

To the right was the "Gymnasiarcheion”, a low-ceiling room that also served as a Library. The first General Catalogue of the Library of the Zosimaia School must have been compiled in September 1852, during the tenure of Anastasios Sakellarios as High School headmaster (1857-1862). The Catalogue includes all the books acquired during the early years of his term, as well as those belonging to the mismanaged former collection (106 / 30-09-1852). There is also an appendix by the Librarian Sotirios Koutsakis. Sakellarios took advantage of his connections with the Firmin Didot publishing house in France to endow the Library with many new books, rare editions, and manuscripts.

Then, during the administration of Spyridon Manaris (1862-1881), the organisation of the Library was established on a firmer footing. With a Special Article, the New Regulation of the School provided funds for appointing a Librarian and an annual procurement programme. At the same time, the Library received significant donations (Neophytos Doukas, Andreas Kompatis, Dim. Anagnostopoulos, Vassilios Tsimas, P. Lazaras, a doctor from Corfu, and Dositheos Filitis, a benefactor from Bucharest).

However, the building had severe problems. There was very little light since the windows were small. The interior walls were "poorly made", and the floors, desks, and seats produced a prolonged creak every time they were used, a sound similar to "a deep sigh, which was the result of the considerable number of years that burdened their past”.

On 25 August 1894, the threat to the student's safety and well-being prompted the president of the local administrative council and Bishop of Ioannina, Grigorios Kallidis (1889-1902), to propose the temporary relocation to another, safer building until the construction of a new school and library (Minutes of the General Meeting of the Ephorate 432 / 25-08 1894). After the elections of 1894, a special committee (440 / 14-09-1894) assigned the task to two engineers, Perikles Melirritos and Harissiadis (444 / 04-10-1894).

In 1896, the Ephorate of the School instructed the school headmaster, Alexios Zamarias, to compile an accurate catalogue of the books of the High School Library and to secure the return of all the books that had been checked out, a task which, however, was never completed.

The Greco-Turkish War (1897) and the events surrounding the conflict forced the Zosimaia Library to close for three weeks.

In October 1897, the Ephorate (Minutes 503 / 20-10-1897) decided to endow the library with a considerable sum of 15,000 Ottoman pounds. The Bishop of Ioannina, Grigoriοs Kallidis, strongly encouraged anyone possessing books belonging to the library to return them on penalty of temporary or permanent expulsion from the religious community. At the time, the library was described as “under settlement”.

In 1900, a series of decisions proved consequential for the future of the School and its Library. The Ioannina delegates appointed an Epirote Committee to supervise the plan for constructing a new building and raise the necessary funds. In early June, the Committee instructed Periklis Melirrytos to draw a final plan "based on the former plan that he and D. Christidis approved...". The request for a building permit was sent to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Ottoman Ministry of Justice and Religions (No. 145 / 09-05-1317 (1900)) and the Ottoman Prefect of Ioannina Osman Pasha, who favoured the project (document no. 220 / 29-05-1317 (1900) became involved in the process.

The municipal engineer Zygmunt Mineyko had already initiated the construction of the building, and substantial funds had been raised. However, there was an unexpected delay in issuing the Imperial Ordonnance (irâde) in Constantinople. The coordinated efforts of the Central Fundraising Committee and the Bishop of Ioannina Grigoris secured the building permit for the Zosimaia School on November 6, 1901. A telegram announced the news.

The Rebuilding Committee immediately decided (early December, Minutes 609 / 07-12-1901) to demolish the former building between Asopiou, Zosimadon, and Korais streets.

The Delegation of the City of Ioannina decided to form an Epirot Trusteeship with members from the Elders and the Ephorate Committee to study the feasibility of erecting a new school building. The members included the engineers P. Melirrytos and D. Christidis.

Following all appropriate actions, the matter was forwarded to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Ottoman Ministry of Justice responsible for issuing a building permit “to construct the new and larger Zosima Gymnasium in Ioannina.”

The process encountered delays in Constantinople and forced the Central Fundraising Committee of the Epirot Trusteeship to contact Metropolitan Grigorios, a Synodal Father in Phanar and ask him to intervene to issue the Imperial Ordonnance (irâde).

When the former building on the Athanasiou plot was demolished, students and books were relocated to two rented residences, where they remained for three years. The K. Kyriazis house was located in the Tsigara or Omer Bey district, next to the then Kaplaneios School, while the property of Ourania Orologa was located in the district of Bahram Pasha, at the junction of Aravantinou & Papazoglou streets (where the Pyrsinella Mansion now stands). The Brazeli residence was a two-storey mansion on the north side of Arch. Spyridon Square and accommodated students from the Zosimaia School and some of the school's books.

Teachers and students, as well as the greatest part of the school library collection, were also housed in the Orphanage built by Georgios Stavros (1788-1869).

The building of the new Zosimaia School was finally inaugurated on February 14, 1905. The school and approximately 1,500 books from the original collection remained there until 1940 when the building was destroyed during an Italian bombardment.

The foundation stone of the third building of the Zosimaia School was laid on Sunday, February 17, 1902. The religious ceremony was performed by His Holiness, the Chairman of the Committee, Bishop of Peristera Kyros Meletiou (1844-1921). The ceremony was attended by the Ottoman Governor Osman Pasha, the leaders of the Christian and Jewish Community of Ioannina, city consular authorities, representatives of local guilds and many residents.

The following inscription was engraved on the stone:

After further attempts to raise money for the project, the official opening ceremony for the new building took place on 14 February 1905.

After nearly five centuries, Ioannina regained its freedom with the surrender of the Ottoman forces on the morning of February 21, 1913. The city is now part of Greece, but the period 1915-1917 is defined by the intense conflict between Venizelos and Konstantinos regarding the participation of Greece in the First World War (1914).

From the end of May to September 1917, the city of Ioannina was briefly under Italian occupation. The area remains unsafe even after liberation. Then came the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the population exchange under the Treaty of Lausanne.

The School operated smoothly from 1924 to 1934, but the Library suffered from indifference and negligence that resulted in the scattering of its collection.

Despite the construction of the majestic building, the greatest part of the book collection remained in the basement of the Georgios Stavros Orphanage until 1912. During this period, and although it had been decided by the General Assembly of Ioannina, as early as 1878, that the Library would be further enriched with new acquisitions, its collections were ravaged uncontrolled by "the mice in the basement of the Orphanage that gnawed thousands of volumes of the Library collection …."

Stilpon Kyriakides, Professor of the Zosimaia School (1911), collected the existing manuscripts of the Zosimaia School and compiled a Catalogue, which he published in 1912, in “Neos Elinomnimon,” a scientific journal published by Sp. Lambros.

The Greek War of Independence resulted in the liberation of central Greece and the Peloponnese. In 1880, Thessaly and the area of Arta became part of Greece. However, the largest part of Epirus remained part of the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, efforts to liberate Epirus never truly stopped. The Epirote Society had been paving the way for the victorious advance of the Greek army during the First Balkan War since 1870; in the decisive battle of Bizani, Ioannis Velissarios defeated Esad Pasha on the hills outside the city and forced him to surrender Ioannina. The two sides reached an agreement and signed a protocol surrendering the city to the Greeks on 21 February 1913. Ioannina, after almost five centuries of Ottoman occupation, was finally liberated.

From 1913 until 1938, we do not have a clear picture of the general state of affairs connected to the School’s book collection. The surviving testimonies mostly provide information about the operation of the School.

The city of Ioannina remained under Italian occupation May 26, 1917 to September 1917. Even though the Italians eventually left the city, the area remained unsafe. A few months later (6 February 1918 to 29 March 1918) , the Zosimaia School was requisitioned by the Greek army. In May 1918, the School appeared to operate under the name Zosimaia School - First High School of Ioannina, but without any mention of its library and the fate of the books.

The lack of information until 1924 could be the result of the general state of affairs in Greece and the recently liberated city of Ioannina at a time of overall military and political upheaval. In an article in the newspaper "Epirus" (Imeronyktia Gianniotika 13/08/1924) dedicated to "The mosque of the Bazaar" , reporter K. Kazantzis suggests the conversion of the mosque into a library, where "the books that were scattered all over and covered in mould , could be finally gathered in one place; the collection of books of the Zosimaia Library as well as those of the late doctor Salamagas...".

On the other hand, the years from 1924 to 1934 seem to be a period of stable and smooth operation for the Zosimaia School.

In 1932, Christos Soulis embarked on the first serious attempt to properly organise and operate the School Library.

The visionary Philologist, with the valuable contribution of Professor of Theology Odysseas Frangoulis and the Directors of the National Library and the Library of the Hellenic Parliament, achieves, in March 1938, the establishment of the independent Zosimaia Library in Epirus, housed in the newly erected building of the Pedagogical Academy of Ioannina.

In 1932, Christos Soulis took over the management of the Zosimaia School and Library. The administration of Soulis was a period of greatness and prosperity defined by the modernisation of the buildings and teaching resources, the establishment of a natural history museum, a choir and an orchestra, painting exhibitions, athletic competitions, musical performances, lectures by distinguished speakers, and educational excursions. All this led to the pronouncement of Zosimaia School as a Model High School, a title that until then had only been bestowed to Arsakeio and Varvakeio in Athens.

Christos Soulis was deeply interested in the organisation, enrichment, and operation of the Zosimaia Library. He collected the ravaged books from the basements, cleaned them, and placed them in a suitable place to protect them from further destruction. Aware that many books had been forever lost due to a lack of "due diligence", he considered it imperative to arrange, record and classify them according to their subject matter. He also supervised the library lending service himself.

In 1937, he took the initiative to create a handwritten general catalogue of the books of the Zosimaia Library of Ioannina and requested the secondment of Odysseas Frangoulis, a theology professor with previous experience in organising the Library of the Rizarios School. His objective was the systematic and scientific classification of the library collection. For this purpose, he sought the advice of the Directors of the National Library and the Library of the Hellenic Parliament. At the same time, he submitted a petition regarding “The Zosimaia Library of Ioannina” to K. Georgakopoulos, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs. He also submitted a draft regulation, "On the Library of the Zosimaia School of Ioannina". Soulis included a brief narrative of the library’s adventurous past and pointed out that the collection included almost six thousand books, some of which dated back to 1828 and had survived numerous relocations. Many books remained in the offices of the faculty or the main school building. In contrast, others had been lost or “forcibly borrowed” by people who neglected to return them due to the indifference of former headmasters. It is important to note that he also refers to the destruction of valuable editions when the second school building was being repaired (1840-1844).

A year later, on March 31, 1938, Compulsory Law 1161/38 on the "Establishment of the Zosimaia Library in Epirus" was published, and the independent Zosimaia Library came into being. It is a Legal Entity Under Public Law under the jurisdiction of the Zosimaia Educational Committee. The Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs exercises supreme control and supervision. The independent library was installed in the newly founded Pedagogical Academy.

On November 5, 1938, Soulis compiled the "Catalogue of books of the Library of the Zosimaia School handed over by Headmaster Christos I. Soulis to the Zosimaia Library, established by law", as well as the "Catalogue of Manuscripts belonging to the Zosimaia School and delivered to the Zosimaia Library". From the total number of 5,000 volumes, 3,500 were handed over to the newly independent Library, while 1,500 remained at the School for the use of teachers and students.

The grand opening of the Pedagogical Academy and the newly independent Zosimaia Library in Epirus took place on November 8, 1938, the memorial day of the national benefactors Zosimas Brothers. The Bishop of Ioannina Spyridon officiated in the presence of Konstantinos Georgakopoulos, Minister of Education, and D. Vlachlidis, Mayor of Ioannina.

From 1938 until 1940, the Library was housed in the building of the Zosimaia Pedagogical Academy.

According to an article by Frangoulis in the local newspaper EPIROTIKOS AGON [no. 5755 / 26-9-1951] "An independent organisation was set up... under the name Zosimaia Library, to receive most of the already collected and organised books with its headquarters in the Zosimaia Academy. Eftychia Printzou was appointed librarian and custodian of the collection. A small part of the old collection, consisting of Greek and Latin authors, books published at the expense of the Zosimas brothers, and volumes recently purchased, remained in the Zosimaia School. These books remained in the Zosimaia School during the war in 1940. The bequeathed library of Paschalis was added to the Zosimaia Library."

On October 28, 1940, the war between Greece and Italy broke out, followed by the disastrous bombing of Ioannina a few days later. The city was under Italian occupation from April 1941 until 8 September 1943. The library building (Pedagogical Academy) was requisitioned to become the Military Hospital of Ioannina, and it was bombed. As a result, the collection of the Zosimaia was scattered in various locations.

The Greco-Italian war broke out on October 28, 1940. A few days later, the city of Ioannina became the target of the Italian air force with catastrophic results.

The Zosimaia Pedagogical Academy was used as the Second Military Hospital of Ioannina (1940-1941); on Easter Sunday (April 20, 1941), it was bombed despite having a painted Red Cross on its roof. More than fifty people (doctors, nurses, and patients) died. The Italians ordered the relocation of many volumes from the Zosimaia Library to the Orphanage of Georgios Stavros and the house of Eftychia Printzou.

In a report in April 1946 [no. 207 / 20.04.1946], the librarian Eftychia Printzou informed the Supervisory Council of the Zosimaia Library of Epirus that “...my house has been housing from May 1941 until today, items and books belonging to the collection of the Zosimaia Library of Epirus. The President of the Supervisory Council, the Reverend Bishop of Ioannina, is fully aware of the situation. By order of the Italians, the entire content of the library was transferred to the Orphanage of Georgios Stavros. Still, due to the lack of containers and means of transportation, these items were gathered in my house, which is located near the Zosimaia Pedagogical Academy, where the Zosimaia Library is currently housed...".

On September 8, 1943, the Italian Government's unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers' armed forces was announced, putting an end to the Italian occupation of Ioannina.

On July 14, 1943, the General of the Wehrmacht Walter Stettner established his headquarters in Ioannina, marking the German occupation period in the city. The collection remained “stored” in various buildings until December 1943.

The turbulent history of the collections of the Zosimaia Library in Epirus does not end with the German departure and the city’s liberation.

Meanwhile, on July 14, 1943, Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen, a German general in the Wehrmacht, established his headquarters in Ioannina; the period of German occupation had begun.

From 1941, the books of the independent Zosimaia Library in Epirus must have been considered lost since there was no evidence that they had safely arrived at the G. Stavros Orphanage. In 1943, however, the books were discovered in the Nursing Home of Ioannina, and every possible effort was made to save the collection from further destruction.

The German official responsible for preserving cultural heritage and artworks in Greece ordered the Propaganda Service of Ioannina to ensure "that the Zosimaia Library becomes accessible by the general public".

According to an announcement of the German Propaganda Service of Ioannina on 27 December 1943, signed by the Special Chief Ernst Dryander, “...the Library of the School founded by the Zosimas brothers was forced to close some time ago by the Italians, and due to the alleged lack of space, it had been repeatedly relocated. In fact, it seems that the Italians sought to eradicate a centre of Greek education. Currently, the books are stored under deplorable conditions in the basement of the Nursing Home [...] Today, we visited the library in the presence of the following signatories Christos Soulis, Headmaster of the High School, and Nikolaos Simiriotis, Engineer. The Library was placed under the protection of the German authorities. Efforts are being made to restore it for the public as soon as possible."

A few months later, in early February 1944, the German authorities announced that “the chronological list of books has been found and that the Catalogue of Bulletins is located along with the books in the basements of the Nursing Home. The work for the relocation of the books to a suitable building has begun, and we hope that by springtime the Zosimaia Library, thanks to the beneficial intervention of the German authorities, will have been restored to the public."

While the reconstitution of the famous Zosimaia Library is underway and its restoration to the public is anticipated, a tragic event shocks the society of Ioannina. In the early hours of the 25th of March 1944, the "Final Solution" for the Jews of Ioannina was suddenly set in motion.

Sources mention that after the deportation of the Jews of Ioannina, the Old Kahal Kadosh Yashan Synagogue was used by the Zosimaia Library. The old synagogue survived due to the efforts of the Mayor of Ioannina, Dimitrios Vlachlidis, and Bishop Kyros Spyridon Vlachos. The Zosimaia Library was transferred there with its collection and staff. The valuable artefacts found in the synagogue (Torah books, historical prayer books etc.) were hidden for the duration of the war in a secret subterranean crypt hidden under a wooden bench. It seems that some books from the Zosimaia Library were stored in the Old Synagogue inside the castle of Ioannina to save it from destruction. These artefacts remained there until 1945.

In April 1944, the German Lieutenant General Hartwig von Ludwiger handed over the "treasures" of the Zosimaia Library to the General Commander of Epirus, Michael Tsimbris, and protosyncellus Athanasios, representative of the Bishop of Ioannina, Spyridon Vlachos. More than six thousand volumes found a home in an Ottoman house, which functioned as a French Consulate in present-day Alsos.

The news of the return of Zosimaia's valuable books to the Greek authorities caught the attention of the Press in Greece and overseas. It is a testament to the library’s significance in shaping the cultural identity and education of the population.

Some representative publications that appeared in the Greek and international Press:

• KATHIMERINI (April 23, 1944) "In Ioannina, German soldiers discovered the Zosimaia Library and handed it over to the Greek authorities."
• German Occupation Newspaper (April 1944) "... In the Greco-Italian war, the University of Ioannina (as the Zosimaia School was called) was destroyed. This was the home of the Zosimaia library. However, the precious books survived. No one knew where they were. For a long time, all attempts to locate them were fruitless. German soldiers recently found them in a house near the city gates. The collection was in great danger, exposed to groundwater in a damp basement. Our comrades carefully and diligently transported more than 6,000 valuable volumes to a safe place."
• German newspaper MARBURGER ZEITUNG (April 27, 1944) the return of the Zosimaia Library to Greece, "A cultural achievement of the Wehrmacht.".
• Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden (15 April 1944), A supranational German daily newspaper based in Amsterdam. An article titled “Sossimaia-Bibliothek”
• De Gooi-en Eemlander (15 April 1944) A Dutch newspaper. An article titled “De Sossimaia Bibliotheek.”
• LA ESTAFETA LITERARIA (5 April 1945) A weekly cultural magazine of Madrid: “The famous Zosimaia library, which was considered forever lost, is once again open to the public This library, whose collection numbers 6,000 volumes, was discovered in a basement on the outskirts of the city. "

The same information is confirmed by declassified Allied military documents:

• Document No 77507, 6 April 1944: “The German forces found the famous Zosimaia Library, consisting of 6,000 volumes, which was considered lost for many years. The library has been moved to a secure location. It was found in a state of complete neglect, in a basement on the city's outskirts, where it would have been destroyed in a short time by moisture and mould. Now, the valuable library is again at the service of Greek Science.”
• April 14, 1944 "In Ioannina, the Commander-in-Chief of the German forces, on behalf of the German Armed Forces, presented to the Governor of Epirus and the Bishop of the Orthodox Church the valuable Zosimaia Library... Many weeks earlier, the Library Ephor had used a magazine to ask the help of the public for locating the Zosimaia Library.

Following liberation in 1945, the Ministry of Education and the local authorities addressed the issue of returning the books from the Synagogue. The following letter was sent by the teachers of the Zosimaia Pedagogical Academy to the Bishop of Ioannina "Based on the Order of the Ministry of Education no. 10960/284/10-04-1945 and subsequently to our Report no. 123 / 26-04-1945 regarding the condition of the Zosimaia Library of Epirus and the damage it sustained, we kindly request that you call the librarian Mrs Eftychia Printzou, who has already resumed her duties, to come and collect the books from the Jewish Synagogue that had been transferred to the Pedagogical Academy."

It is therefore believed that after 1945 the various items that had been scattered for years returned to the Zosimaia Pedagogical Academy. Yet, it is difficult to determine the exact number of the items and their condition. In the meantime, the turbulent period of the War of Ideas (Greek Civil War) from March 1946 to August 1949 had catastrophic consequences for Greece and the city of Ioannina. These include the arrest of Eftychia Printzou in 1948, her trial, and execution.

In 1949, Compulsory Law 1362/1949 (Government Gazette 337 A’/ 29.11.1949) "On the establishment, reconstruction and unified organisation of Libraries throughout the State", became the first law published by the Ministry of National Education to govern public libraries.

In 1952 the books of the Zosimaia Library remained stored in the Pedagogical Academy in conditions that prevented their use.

According to information published in the magazine EPIROTIKI ESTIA of 1952, the books of the Zosimaia Library were stored in apartments owned by the Zosimaia Academy: “While efforts are underway to establish a municipal library, it is necessary to attempt the reconstitution of the Zosimaia library and the library of the Zosimaia School. The latter was enriched by the addition of books in the basement. At the same time, the rest of the collection had formed the core of the Zosimaia Library, which had been installed and operating in the Zosimaia Academy. The books of the Zosimaia Library, after being transferred to various locations, are located in apartments owned by the Zosimaia Academy without serving their original purpose."

Pressure was exerted to re-open the Zosimaia Library since “...teachers and students are deprived of the reasonable request to satisfy their cultural and educational needs. It is unacceptable for a city like Ioannina, a hub of culture and letters, not to have a library to assist in the enrichment of researchers' knowledge”

The American Professor of Ancient History at Columbia University, Morton Smith, confirmed the presence of the items of the Zosimaia Library in the basements of the building of the Pedagogical Academy. He visited Ioannina looking for valuable manuscripts and noted that in 1952 the books of the war-torn and "allegedly looted" Zosimaia Library were transferred to a room of the Academy and were stored in such a way that one couldn’t see the content of the lowest levels of the piles of books. However, some manuscripts on the upper stacks were visible and in a deplorable condition. Thus, he was able to confirm that they belonged to the Zosimaia Library.

The Library finally finds a decent home as “the minimum repayment of the moral debt of the (National) Bank to this city, the birthplace of Georgios Stavrou and most of those great benefactors (among them the Zosimas brothers, who were also National Bank of Greece stockholders).”

On December 3, 1953, the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Greece decided to donate the building housing its branch in Ioannina, to become the new home of the Zosimaia Library. The contribution of Archbishop Spyridon Vlachos was crucial. The structure of the National Bank (present-day City Hall) was erected in 1936 in a "Post-Byzantine" style by the architect Nikolaos Zoumpoulides. The mansion was granted as “the minimum repayment of the moral debt of the Bank to this city, the birthplace of Georgios Stavrou and most of those great benefactors" (among them the Zosimas brothers, who were also bank shareholders).

On 28 November 1956, the Ephorate Committee of the Zosimaia Library decided to transfer the books from the Pedagogical Academy to a room of the former Zosimaia School building, despite the engineers’ objections concerning the safety of the floor. Indeed, the former school building could not be used as it was considered unsuitable.

On 4 November 1957, the Mayor of Ioannina, Grigorios Sakkas, the Director of the Branch of the National Bank of Greece in Ioannina, Nearchos Vassilios, and the Head of the Accounting Department of the branch, Leonidas Papagiotis, signed the donation agreement stating the following: “The National Bank of Greece and Athens grants and transfers as a donation, the property which contains a two-storey building that once housed the NBG Branch to the Municipality of Ioannina provided that the ground floor be used exclusively as the premises of the Zosimaia Library, the management of which will be entrusted to a four-member committee as pronounced in the Article no. 32 of the Regulation of Churches and Charitable Foundations. In case of non-compliance with the terms of the donor, the National Bank of Greece and Athens S.A. retains every right to revoke the donation". In addition, the donation agreement states that the upper floor of the N.B.G mansion will be used to host the King and the royal family during their visits to the city.

The donation was accepted on 16 December 1957 by the Bishop of Ioannina Dimitrios Efthymiou, who also served as the legal representative of the Zosimaia Library in Epirus, in the presence of the notaries Kimon Efthymiou Tzallas and Georgios Chr. Konstantopoulos. The mayor, however, refused to hand over the building to the Zosimaia Library as it considered it suitable for the relocation of the City Hall. The persistent refusal of the mayor resulted, in 1958, in the transfer of the books of the Zosimaia collection to a room of the former Zosimaia School building, even though it was entirely unsuitable for this purpose.

Notwithstanding the disputes and controversies, the Zosimaia Library in Epirus was finally moved and housed in the new building on March 17, 1959. Later, on April 23, 1960, the Ephorate Council decided to remove the carved inscription of the building, which read "National Bank of Greece", and replace it with the inscription "Zosimaia Library in Epirus".

The opening of the Zosimaia Library in the former National Bank of Greece building took place on 21 February 1962.

Evangelos Averoff-Tositsa, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, inaugurated the Zosimaia Library of Ioannina to celebrate the 49th anniversary of the city's liberation. The Bishop of Ioannina Seraphim performed the consecration. After the inauguration, there was a guided tour of the Zosimaia Library by the librarian Norverdos Rodios.

Lina Tsaldari, former minister and member of parliament, introduced the library collection of Spyridon Lambros (Corfu, 1851 - Athens, 1919), a History Professor and Dean of the University of Athens, founding member of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece, Member of the National Society, General Secretary of the Olympic Games Committee (1901–1918), and Prime Minister of Greece (1916 - 17 April 1917). His library, with 12,000 volumes of books, magazines, newspapers, maps, manuscripts and personal belongings, was donated to the Zosimaia Library by his daughters Lina Tsaldari and Charikleia Malamou in June 1960.

The Municipality of Ioannina was, from the beginning, opposed to the concession of the National Bank of Greece building to the Library and made persistent efforts to thwart the process. The reason was the Municipality’s desire to use the building for municipal services.

The effort to relocate the Zosimaia Library began in 1957 and culminated in 1979, despite the reaction of the community of Ioannina, the local press, and the Librarian-Director of the Zosimaia Library. The result was the decision in 1981 to relocate the Zosimaia Library in the building of the former Municipal Baths, at the intersection of Markou Botsari & Eleutheriou Venizelou streets.

As early as 1957, the Mayor of Ioannina, Grigorios Sakkas, had been trying to thwart the efforts to install the Zosimaia Library in the mansion donated by the National Bank of Greece. He wanted to use the building for municipal services. In 1966, the municipality managed to secure the upper floor to accommodate various municipal services since the old municipal building had become entirely unsuitable.

The Municipality's efforts to relocate the Zosimaia Library continued and culminated in 1979. The Municipal Council of Ioannina and the Mayor of Ioannina, Konstantinos Frontzos, decided (Decision 79 / 28-3-1979) to relocate the Zosimaia Library from the N.B.G. building to the former City Hall on Bizaniou Street, where the Municipal Conservatory is currently housed. The decision caused a strong reaction from the people of Ioannina, the local press, and the Director of the Zosimaia Library, Norverdos Rodios. The former City Hall building was old and in a ruinous state. It was unsafe and posed a severe fire risk. The unsuitability was evident from the plank floors, which could not hold 130 tons of valuable printed material (50,000 volumes). There was not enough space, and the staff feared for their safety in case of fire or earthquake. There was also the additional risk of damage to the books during transportation. Finally, the library's relocation would suspend its operations for at least a year. Considering the reports of private engineers demonstrating the building’s unsuitability, the library administrators refused to relocate to the proposed facility.

On 9 January 1980, the Ephorate Committee of the Zosimaia Library decided to return the collection to the Pedagogical Academy to allow the municipal services to occupy the former building of the National Bank of Greece. The proposal envisioned allocating the east wing ground floor and the Upper building on Dodonis Street for the library's operation. The space was deemed sufficient, comfortable, and in an excellent location. This proposal would enable city authorities to solve the problem of an appropriate building as City Hall.

It seems that the decision to relocate the Zosimaia Library to the Pedagogical Academy was never implemented since the Municipal Council, at a meeting on 21 July 1981, decided to offer the former Municipal Baths for the operation of the Library. The building was centrally located at the junction of M. Botsari & El. Venizelou streets, and was initially reserved for the Municipal Gallery. Finally, the National Bank of Greece and the Ephorate Committee of the Zosimaia Library after lengthy legal processes and correspondence consented to relocate the Zosimaia Library to the former Municipal Baths building.

The completion of the process was announced to the Ephorate Committee of the Zosimaia Library by the Bishop of Ioannina and President of the Council Theoklitos on 10 November 1986: “...the Bank, with the 66992 / 14-10-1986 deed consents to relocate the Zosimaia Library to the former Municipal Baths building. Since the previous decision of the Ephorate Council (88 / 12-11-1985) has been approved by the Ministry of Education (269 / 22-2-1986) and the Educational Committee of Charity Organizations of Ioannina (Decision 480 / 9-4-1986), the approval process for the relocation has now been completed.”

Ioannis Kamberis covered the cost of adding a floor and rearranging the space in the former Municipal Baths buildings which was intended to house a Gallery.

A contract to “Establish a right in rem of limited personal servitude for the perpetual housing of the Zosimaia Library in Epirus in the building of the former Municipal Baths, 10,000,000 drachmas" was signed on 8 December 1986, at the City Hall of Ioannina by the Mayor of Ioannina Charilaos Tolis and the Bishop of Ioannina and President of the Ephorate Committee of the Library Theoklitos.

Due to its transfer to the new building, the Library's operation was suspended from 12 December 1986 until the completion of the process.

On 16 January 1987, the Municipal Council decided to relocate the Zosimaia Library to its current building. The relocation took place on 31 March 1987, but the transfer of its book collection was still pending.

In 1987, a joint decision of the Minister to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs was published in the Government Gazette 218 B’/29-04-1987 and renamed the Zosimaia Library “ Zosimaia Public Library of Ioannina”.

On April 25, 1988, the inauguration of the Zosimaia Public Central Library took place in the building it currently occupies. The Library is a Public Entity and a Public Library of the Hellenic Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs. At the ceremony, Ioannis Kamberis received the City Medal for his valuable contribution and participation in the building’s renovation.

The opening of the Zosimaia Public Central Library (with the addition of a bookmobile) in the building it currently occupies was celebrated on 25 April 1988. The Library is a Public Entity and a Public Library of the Hellenic Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs. Mrs Aikaterini Tzannou serves as the director, while the Bishop of Ioannina, Kyros Theoklitos, is President of the supervisory committee. At the ceremony, Ioannis Kamberis received the City Medal for his valuable contribution.

The local press covered the event extensively and favourably.

Epirotikos Agon (05-05-1988)

"The opening of the Zosimaia Public Central Library (with the addition of a bookmobile) in the building it currently occupies was celebrated on 25 April 1988. The Library is a Public Entity and a Public Library of the Hellenic Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs. Mrs Aikaterini Tzannou serves as the director, while the Bishop of Ioannina, Kyros Theoklitos, is President of the supervisory committee. At the ceremony, Ioannis Kamberis received the City Medal for his valuable contribution."

Proinos Logos (26-04-1988)

"The inauguration of the new building of the Zosimaia Public Library of Ioannina occurred yesterday at 7 pm. On the 50th anniversary of the Zosimaia Library's founding and the occasion of the opening ceremony, the Exhibition of Manuscripts and Rare Publications from the Library’s collections was also inaugurated. The exhibition will be held until April 30. The event was attended by the Bishop, the Regional Governor, the Prefect, the General, the Director of Police, the Mayor, the deputy mayors, the municipal councillors, and numerous people. After the speech by a member of the Ephorate Committee of the Zosimaia Library, the Mayor, Mr Filios, awarded a medal of honour to Mr Ioannis Kamperis, recognising him as an honorary citizen for his contribution to the city".

Eleftheria (26-04-1988)

"The inauguration ceremony of the new building of the Zosimaia Public Central Library of Ioannina took place yesterday afternoon by the Mayor of Ioannina, Mr Filios. An Exhibition of Manuscripts and Rare Editions from the Library collections is also organised as part of the inauguration and the completion of fifty years since the Library’s establishment. The exhibition will remain open until April 30. During the event, the Mayor awarded a medal of honour to our fellow citizen Mr Ioannis Kamperis for his contribution to the municipality and the city. Mr Ioannis Kamberis was responsible for the library’s modernisation".

Proina Nea (27-04-1988)

"The inauguration of the Zosimaia Library took place yesterday afternoon in the new building of the former Municipal Baths. The ceremony was attended by the political and police authorities of our Prefecture, the Library’s Board of Directors, municipal councillors, representatives of local organisations, and many citizens. The speakers included the Chairman of the Board of the Library, Bishop Theoklitos, the Mayor of Ioannina, Mr Filios, and the university professor Mr Kyrkos. Regardless of the amount of money donated (whether 100 million or 80 or 50 or 10 or 20), Giannis Kamberis never asked for a receipt for his expenses or tax concessions, although this would be a natural and legal request. We are aware of these great contributions by Giannis Kamberis because they are evident. Yet, there is much of his work that we ignore and will never know! Let’s hope that we will forever be blessed with the presence of such men and Epirotes that will make our dear Epirus a land of NOBLE MEN. People who, instead of wasting their money in Cannes, will invest them for the public good".

Today, the Zosimaia Library belongs to the Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs public library network (46 members). It is regarded among the system’s 29 core libraries because it has a mobile library known as the “Book Car” and one of ten Historic libraries since it was founded more than a century ago with important book collections and archival material.

The Zosimaia Public Central Historical Library of Ioannina (No. 13647 / ΙΖ / 24-02-2004, Deed of the Ministry of National Education & Religious Affairs on "Preserving the “Historical” characterisation of Public Libraries and adding the same title in their appellation) is Legal Entity of Public Law of the Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs, governed according to Law 3149/10-6-2003 on “National Library of Greece, Public Libraries and other provisions.”

The current collection contains manuscripts from the 10th and 11th centuries up to the 19th century and approximately 320,000 items (cataloguing is ongoing), including more than 40,000 rare books. In addition, the repository holds old and contemporary newspapers and magazines, maps, vinyl records, photographs, videocassettes, CD-Roms and DVDs.

Among its most revered possessions are the publications sponsored by the Zosima brothers, the Korais’ “Library”, and books published by the Glykis and Theodosiou publishing houses of Venice.

Following its independence in 1938, the collections of the Zosimaia Library were enriched with private donations by prominent scientists, intellectuals, and individuals who played major roles in the history of modern Greece. Nowadays, the Zosimaia Library possesses valuable documents and books from the private collections of Spyridon Lambros, Christos and Georgios Soulis (Headmaster of Zosimaia and Professor of Byzantine History at Harvard and Columbia Universities, respectively), the Ioannite scholar and doctor Vasileios Voilas, Archbishop Evangelos Antoniadis (Director of the Rizareios Ecclesiastical School & the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Konstantinos V. Oikonomou (a merchant from Epirus), and Alexandros Pallis (1883-1975) who was the son of Alexandros Pallis, a graduate of the University of Oxford who served as Minister attached to the Greek Embassy in London and was invited by the Greek government to help administer the lands liberated in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars (1912-13). The collection also includes contributions from Christos Christovasilis, Kostas Krystallis, Leandros Branousis, etc. In addition, the Library preserves furniture, engravings, and works of art donated by many individuals from their private collections.

The largest part of the printed and audiovisual material at the library (90,000 entries) is available online through the openABEKT service (https://zosimaialib.openabekt.gr/). At the same time, the retroactive indexation and cataloguing of special collections and incunabula is a work in progress.

As a Central Library, the institution serves the city and the Regional Unit of Ioannina (161,539 residents according to the Hellenic Statistical Authority), the academic community, and researchers from Greece and abroad who are interested in the historical collections of the Zosimaia Library.

The Zosimaia, one of the oldest historical libraries in Greece with a lifespan of more than two hundred years, feels the need to share, offer and transmit all the knowledge existing in its repositories and collections in a modern way of innovative products and services made available by new technologies.

The library staff plan and implement activities to promote literacy (e.g. book presentations, World Children's Book Day, etc.), extroversion and the exchange of experiences (e.g. Library Meetings, Open Library). In addition, the Library supports efforts to study the urban and suburban environment of Ioannina, the modern and contemporary history of the city and its inhabitants and to produce relevant historical and anthropological data and interactive applications.

Today, the Zosimaia Library offers organised educational programs and activities for all ages (0+ to 60+) and supports the educational process across every level. It wishes to understand, research, participate, and communicate a comprehensive picture of the local culture to better prepare students to become Greek and European citizens and develop a stockpile of knowledge to cultivate critical thinking. Furthermore, the Library seeks to provide an enjoyable, exploratory, student-centred and differentiated learning environment, primarily through the Zosimaia Library of Knowledge and Emotions.