Kassope was built by the Thesprotian tribe of the Kassopaians before the mid-4th century BC, to protect the fertile plain from the Elian colonists. It stands on a plateau (approx. 550-650 m) on the north slopes of Mt Zalongo, and was the capital of Kassopaia, with large public buildings and many private residences at its 3rd-century BC heyday. It was surrounded by a polygonal wall about 3.5 m thick.
The city followed the Hippodamean system, with 20 narrow parallel roads crossed by wider streets, forming some 60 blocks. It had its own mint and coinage and a theatre seating 2,500-3,000. It was destroyed by the Romans in 167 BC.
Its most important monuments include the North Stoa of the League of Epirots, the Prytaneion and West Stoa on the Agora, the Katagogion (a Hellenistic guest hostel) and a large excavated house. Excavations were carried out by professor Sotirios Dakaris.
