The village Fanari in Karditsa, Greece, photographed by Peter Ziogas.
On the hilltop lies the late Byzantine Castle of Fanari, built in the 14th century, one of the best preserved fortresses from that period. It was built for Giovanni II Orsini, son of Giovanni I Orsini, Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, because these two islands at the time were part of the Kingdom of Sicily.
Giovanni II Orsini had this fortress built while he was serving as Despot in the Despotate of Epirus, one of the Byzantine Greek states founded after the collapse of the empire during the Fourth Crusade. Orsini earned his legitimacy to govern the despotate through his mother, Maria Komnené Doúkaina, daughter of the former Despot of Epirus Nikephóros I Komnenós Doúkas, who was descended from two Greek imperial families, the Komnení and the Doúkes. However, in order to further relieve any concerns his Italian paternal ancestry might cause, Giovanni changed his name to Ioánnis II Komnenós Doúkas, favouring his maternal surname. He also converted to Orthodoxy and pledged his allegiance to Emperor Andrónikos Palaeológos.
A notable fact is that during his governance he commanded Konstantínos Ermónikos to render the Homeric Epics into the Greek vernacular of the 14th century.
He was not a great guy though and his whole family was not exactly a loving one. His older brother Nicholas actually served as despot in Epirus first, after murdering their maternal uncle Thomás Komnenós Doúkas. Giovanni then killed his brother and took the position for himself (unless there was some weird sense of retribution for their uncle´s murder in his action IDK). In any case, Giovanni died suddenly in 1335 and it is almost certain he was poisoned by his wife Anna Angelina Palaeologína. It is known that Anna despised him and she wanted to seize the regency for their son Nikephóros II Orsini and herself.
