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| HISTORY The oldest traces of civilization on the island date to prehistoric times (3000 BC). Around 1000 BC, it was colonized by the Aeolians, who founded several major cities, among them Mytilene. It was the homeland of numerous Greek philosophers and lyric poets (Sappho, Alkaios, Pittakos), reaching the height of its prosperity in the 7th and 6th century, after which time it shared the fate of the majority of the other Aegean islands. |
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| Subjugated successively by the Persians, Athenians, Macedonians, Ptolemies and Romans, during the Byzantine era it fell to the Genoese adventurer Gattelusio (1354). |
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While retaining Byzantine traditions, the island knew a second period of peace and prosperity at its time, before succumbing to the Turks in 1462. Lesbos was liberated in 1912. After the Asia Minor disaster (1922) many Greek refugees established themselves here. In more recent years Mytilini has experienced continued progress and development in the arts, giving birth to Eftaliotis and the Nobel laureate Elytis, among other distinguished writers. |
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| SIGHTSEEING
Mytilinin owns its configuration to volcanic activity in the distant past. It is the third largest Greek island and one of the most important as far as history and a varied landscape are concerned. The famous petrified forest is located at Sigri, where over a million years ago the tree trunks were covered with volcanic ash. |
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| In the capital neoclassic mansions co-exit with multi storey apartment buildings. The fortress built by Francesco Gattelusio in 1373 is one of the largest and best preserved in Greece. |
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One can visit the Hellenistic theatre, remains of the cemetery used during the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman eras, the Archeological Museum, the Folk Art Museum, the Roman aqueduct (2nd-3rd c. AD) to the north of the city, to name jut a few sights. |
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| Among the island's major towns are Thermi, renowned for its hot springs and Bronze Age finds (3000 BC); Mithymna also know as Molyvos, as prosperous now as it was in 2800 BC; Eressos, a little port, with a splendid beach and finds from ancient to medieval times housed in the local museum. |
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| Typical of the island is the local festival that takes place every year on the fourth Sunday after Easter in the chapel of Agios Haralambos (near Agia Paraskevi), called the Festival of the Bull. Lesvos is famous for its Byzantine monasteries and churches containing precious icons, wood carving and manuscripts. |
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Generally speaking, it is a fascinating island from virtually every point of view - in terms of scenery and recreation opportunities, a place where vestiges of the past can be seen against the background of a progressive modern society. the extensive tourist facilities, fine road network and beach studded coast draw crowds of tourists every year. |
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