History & Culture
With Lesvos’ geography and natural beauty, the fertile soil and generous sea it is not surprising the island was inhabited early, or that life and culture flourished. The island has given birth and inspiration to artists and thinkers, and the natural wealth has attracted traders, raiders and rulers up through the times.
Lesvos is an island of volcanic origin, which is still visible on the west side that is contrasting wild and dry compared to the many forests and cultivated areas on this green island.
From a geological point of view, Lesvos’ separation from Asia Minor can also be said to be a recent one.
The ”Natural History Museum” just outside of Sigri gives an interesting presentation of how nature’s forces created what was to be Lesvos, and close by is also the vast ”Petrified Forest”, one of only few in the world.
The Mediterranean was one of the first cradles of mankind, and Lesvos has been inhabited since at least the Neolithic era. The oldest ruins of towns on Lesvos have been dated to around 3200 – 3100 BC and excavations have discovered towns which seem to correspond with Troy I and Troy II, and already in the Bronze Age the island had an exceptionally advanced civilization.
But events and reasons for developments from then and into Ancient times can be explained by more than chronological facts: History, culture and mythology are often so integrated it is difficult to see where one ends and the other starts, but together are they creating the uniqueness of Lesvos.
Lesvos in Mythology
According to the myths, the first king of this sunny island was Makaras, son of the Sun (Helios).
During Makaras’ reign, cities were build and named after his children: Mitilini, Issa, Antissa, Mithymna (Molivos) and Arisvi after his daughters, and Eressos after one of his sons. These city-states were the bases for life in Ancient times, all names to be found on a map of Lesvos today.
Homer mentions Lesvos in both “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”; it was amongst other in Dafia, a neighbouring village to Kalloni, that the seven most beautiful women in the world was found and brought to Achilles.
The myth of Orpheus’s, the Greek God that played beautiful music moving and spellbinding all living creatures, is tightly connected to Lesvos. When he was violently killed, his body parts were thrown into the river Evros, and his head and lyre finally drifted ashore near Antissa on Lesvos. Orpheus head was given a funeral worthy of a God by the locals, and in return the grateful Greek Gods gave Lesvos and its people the eternal gift of literature, art and music. It is also said that the nightingale on the island got its beautiful song from the day Orpheus lyre touched the shore.
Hotel Pasiphae also has its name from mythology: named after Makaras’ sister and hence the daughter of the Sun.
Prehistoric names of the island are many: Imerti (longed for), Lassia (island of light/with the most sunny days) and Aithiope (sun-drenched island).
Today the island is known as Lesvos, or as Mitilini after the capital.
In Greek, the island’s name is spelled Λέσβος; Lesbos. The Greek ”b” is pronounced as ”v”, and therefore ”Lesvos” is the correct pronunciation and writing when translating from Cyrillic to Latin letters. The islands’ inhabitants are often referred to as Lesvians or Lesviots.
According to mythology the island took its name after Makaras’ brother-in-law: Lesvos.
Some say the island was named after an early town here with the same name, yet others claim the island’s name is derived from the word lesbian. This link is a more modern one, often related to the female poet Sappho and her university for women here, but is a theory without much explanatory weight as to how the island got its name.
The most accepted historical explanation is that the island took its name from the war hero Prince Lesvos from Thessaly that came to the island with his large army.
In the 14th century BC Lesvos developed the art of ceramics and bronze, influenced by imported Mycenaean and Cretan swords and vessels.
After being colonized by the Pelasgians and ruled by the Achaeans, Lesvos got cultural influence and current language when the Aeolians founded colonies on Lesvos and the Asia Minor coast opposite around 1100 -1000 BC. They intermingled with the old population and development leaped after over 1000 years of what seems like a period of stagnation.
The Lesviots focused on agriculture and shipping, and became so active on the sea that they colonized the cost of Asia Minor, established a trading station in Egypt and had a turbulent relationship with the powerful city state of Athens: which they have been independent from, in alliance with and under dominance of.
The ancient period was a golden age for Lesvos, with competition between and development within the cities of the island, and is noted for its wealth in art, thought and trade.
Below the surface of the sea in the Gulf of Kalloni one can on a clear day see parts of Ancient Pyrra, sunken in the sea most likely due to and earthquake. In antiquity this was the centre of the Lagoon of Pyrra, and hopefully underwater archeology will reveal this "Atlantis of Lesvos", and discover more of history's treasures in the Gulf.
Sappho and Alceaus, both from the 6.th century BC, represent the Aeolian school of lyrical poetry and stand out in brilliance. Of the two, Sappho from Eressos is unrivalled in fame and importance with her passionate and sensitive lyrics and her school for women teaching music, lyrics and etiquette. Alceaus stands out with verses dominated by eroticism, political feelings and aggressiveness. Alceaus is said to have been Sappho’s lover, another legend says Sappho leaped to her death from a steep rock in Levkas because of her unrequited love for the boatman Phaon.
The musician and poet Arion (625 – 595 BC) came from Molivos and the musician Terpander was born in Antissa in 710 BC; known for his complex music using the seven-string cithara.
Aristotle the philosopher lived a few years in Mitilini around 347 BC after teaching in Assos, a former Greek city build by Mithimnians on the now Turkish mainland. His friend and colleague; Theophrastos from Eressos is in newer research referred to as the founder of modern biology and he did much of his research on Lesvos, as well as teaching here for 35 years.
Today’s ruins of temples uphill from Klopedi and in Messa give an impression of Lesvos’ power and importance in ancient times, and the fascinating work of Sappho, Alceaus and Theophrastos is continuously being re-read, studied and translated into new languages.
The Persians, Romans and Genovese
Alexander the Great took over as ruler after his father, and started his campaign against the expanding Persians in 334 BC. He sent one of his men to Lesvos to free them from Persian political rule the same year, and the island was one of the first to ally with Alexander’s empire.
After 54 years and several wars with the Romans, Greece became nothing more than a province of the Roman Empire after Corinth was destroyed in 146 BC. When the Romans conquered Lesvos in 88 BC (- 324 AD, a young Julius Caesar was said to be particularly brave during the siege of Mitilini. Cicero praised the beauty of the very same city in front of the Roman senate, and St. Paul visited the island in 52 AD.
Theophanes, the historian born in 100 BC in Mitilini, was given the status of a Roman citizen after writing of Pompey’s military operations in Asia Minor. When the Roman Empire was divided into Eastern and Western sections, Greece and hence Lesvos became part of the Eastern, Byzantine Empire (324 – 1453) with Constantinople as capital.
The Greek Orthodox Church had established itself in Greece, and more and more Lesviots chose to worship in Christian churches instead of in the temples build for the twelve Greek Gods, even though the two religions continued to exist side by side for some time. A good example of this is in Messa where an early Christian church was build right in the centre of the remains of the ancient Aphrodite temple.
By this time Lesvos was a relatively undefended island, and saw repeated attacks and plundering from the Saracens and Crusaders from 851 AD and continuing for over 500 years.
In 1354 Lesvos was given as a dowry to the Genovese nobleman Francesco Gateluzzi, and he and his family which ruled until 1462 encouraged arts and commerce as well as fortified the entire island. In 1401 Lesvos was badly damaged by an earthquake that also killed Francesco, and in the years to come his many castles did not prevent the island from being plundered or the town of Kalloni to be destroyed in 1445.
The Byzantine Empire started to collapse, and in the east the Ottomans expanded. The Gateluzzis took the side of Byzantine and fought hard against the Ottomans in 1462, but had eventually to surrender to The Conqueror Mohammed II, who claimed Lesvos on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan.
450 years of Ottoman Rule (1462-1912)
Because of the resistance the Lesviots and Genovese put up, the Ottoman rule was harder on Lesvos than in other places where no severe conflicts occurred.
Of the 100.000 inhabitants under the Gateluzzi reign, only 30.000 illiterates where left as many were sent away, sold as slaves or deported to Constantinople. The Ottoman occupation was devastating to Lesvos, but from the ashes burned hope and will to survive and to continue Hellenism. In monasteries and churches secret schools started, and the clergy played an important and uniting role for the suppressed Lesviots.
Under the Ottomans the island was intellectually dead, and the monastery Moni Limonos (1526) became a place of cultural importance, a religious symbol and a center for knowledge. In 1530 the holy Monastery of Panayias Myrsiniotissas was unique in Greece as a school for women.
At the end of the 1770’s Lesvos became part of a Ottoman trade network, and the reinforced contact between the Lesviots and other Greek colonies paved way for new ideas and revolt.
Revolution, hard times and liberation (1821 – 1912)
In 1817 came the first of the “Philiki Etaireia” (Friendly Societies) and other revolutionary movements on Lesvos, and the start of the revolution against the occupation in 1821 is today celebrated all over Greece on 25th March. But before the liberation in 1912, disasters stood in queue for the Lesviots:
As revenge for the shelling of a Turkish frigate, many were killed in what is called the Great Assault in 1821. With the extreme cold of the Great Frost in January 1850, all the island’s important olive trees died, and many had to move. The earthquake in 1867 ruined buildings and killed thousands, but despite all this, resistance continued to grow.
Shortly after the Greek navy came to Lesvos in the autumn of 1912, the last battle was fought in the village of Klapados 6.th December 1912, where the Turks where defeated. The flag from the surrendering Turkish commander is today exhibited in the museum of Moni Limonos monastery.
After the liberation started a period of deportation, and the years 1913 to 1922 is often referred to as The Asia Minor Disaster. Thousands of Greeks were forced to leave the Asia Minor coast, and Turks had to leave Greece. Some estimations say over 50.000 refugees came to Lesvos alone, and the already poor inhabitants shared what they had with refugees that had left everything behind. The Depression hit hard also on Lesvos, and the Germans occupied the island from 4th May 1941 to 10th September 1944. After the Second World War, the political chaotic situation resembling a civil war in all Greece also affected Lesvos.
From 1967 to 1974 Greece was ruled by military dictatorship, the Junta. For an island where the political left side had many supporters and followers, the right-wing Junta made life hard for many Lesviots.
When democracy finally was restored in the country it was invented, general development leaped again in Greece and on Lesvos, with national EU membership in 1981, and the euro currency in 2001.
Tourism came to Lesvos in the 1980’s, and today over 90.000 people live on this large island.
Lesvos is still relatively untouched by tourism compared to other Greek islands, and in many ways far from lifestyles and developments in Athens and other major cities.
The capital Mitilini has the Aegean University and all the characteristics of a busy Greek city. In more remote villages, religious piety is still important and the Greek-Orthodox calendar of events is followed by most. The many simple, small and family-owned taverns, kafenions and shops dominate in villages and towns, and farming, fishing, ouzo-distilling and olive oil production is still of more importance for the island’s economy than the tourism sector.
Orpheus’ myth might just be true, as the Lesviots seems to be truly blessed with creativity up until today:
Famous later writers are amongst other Stratis Mirvillis, writing about life on Lesvos after the Asia Minor Disaster and the meeting between refugees and old population, and Ilias Venezis and the Nobel laureate Odysseas Elytis.
The folk painter Theophilos (1873 – 1934) has his own museum in Mitilini, and a special place in the Lesviots’ hearts. He lived a life in poverty, known for always wearing the Greek national dress and for painting in homes, churches and taverns for a plate of food or just a glass of wine or ouzo. His paintings are simple, with images of everyday life, history and nature and yet with a texture, spontaneity and detail-richness that have made his pictures loved and valued, today even displayed in the Louvre.
Lesviots of all ages enjoy their local and national folksongs, and listen, sing and dance in cafés and at events.
The island’s music has its special rhythm and instruments, and many elements are similar to those of Asia Minor. Because of past closeness between the two shores and the borderless nature of music, many songs are the same in both places, only with the lyrics in different languages.
Beautiful wood-carvings are part of the island’s past and present, especially visible in the iconostas of the many small and large churches on the island. Using local olive wood, semi-precious stones and silver, today’s artists express themselves and produce beautiful items for use and decoration.
The people of Lesvos are proud of their history, but even if the references to past greatness and events are often, many of the important archeological and historic sites are neglected and little promoted. Nevertheless, or maybe because of this, discovering the history and culture of Lesvos can be a memorable experience.
Most museums, sights and historic places are closed to the public on Mondays.
Churches, chapels and monasteries are open all day and night, and visitors are asked to show respect by covering shoulders and knees, and not to enter if “provocatively dressed”.
It is strictly forbidden to remove or take items from any sight or place that possibly can be of historical/archeological interest.
Due to military installations and bases, some places have signs indicating “no photographing allowed”.
Some places to visit of historic and cultural interest:
Agiassos: Mountain village where traditions and religious customs are kept. Has an important Maria church, and here you can purchase beautiful wood carvings and ceramics.
Ancient Pyrra: One of the ancient cities, now sunken in the sea due to an earthquake, but traces of the civilization can be seen in the hills above the sea.
Eressos: Birthplace of philosopher and biologist Theophrastos and poet Sappho.
Klapados: A now abandoned village where the last battle between Turks and Greeks were fought in 1912.
Klopedi: Monastery outside of Agia Paraskevi, and uphill the Apollo temple from ancient times, a barely excavated and very peaceful location.
Mandamados: Village known for its traditional food and the much visited miracle church of Taxiarchis.
Messa: Excavated ruins of an important ancient temple, with a newly built and informative museum.
Mitilini: The capital and one of the oldest cities in Europe. Observe the architecture and visit museums, cafés and the many shops. From the harbour you can get to the mainland or other Greek islands by ferry.
Molivos: (Mithymna) The picturesque cultural capital of Northern Lesvos, with the Gateluzzi castle overlooking the village and its shops, harbour, inhabitants and good atmosphere. Here is also a traditional kafenion, "Agora".
Moria: A charming village outside of Mitilini, with the Roman Aquaducts build grey marble from Lesvos.
Monastery Moni Limonos: Large monastery from 1526, has a museum with unique documents and icons.
Petrified Forest: One of few in the world, and close-by is the Museum of Natural History.
Plomari: Southern capital, with the only ouzo museum in Greece and a popular beach.
Sigri: With the Petrified Forest, Museum of Natural History as well the caste and beach.
Skala Sikamnia: The sea side village described in Mirvillis book: ”The Mermaid Madonna”.
Copyright ©: Okeanides, 2006