Lesbos orLesvos (Greek:Λέσβος,romanized: Lésvos[ˈlezvos]) is aGreek island located in the northeasternAegean Sea. It has an area of 1,633 km2 (631 sq mi),[2] with approximately 400 kilometres (249 miles) ofcoastline, making it the third largest island inGreece and theeighth largest in the Mediterranean. It is separated fromAsia Minor by the narrowMytilini Strait. On the southeastern coast is the island's capital and largest city,Mytilene (Μυτιλήνη), whose name is also used for the island as a whole. Lesbos is a separateregional unit with the seat in Mytilene, which is also the capital of the largerNorth Aegean region. The region includes the islands of Lesbos,Chios,Ikaria,Lemnos, andSamos. The total population of the island was 83,755 in 2021.[1] A third of the island's inhabitants live in the capital, while the remainder are concentrated in small towns and villages. The largest arePlomari,Agia Paraskevi,Polichnitos,Agiassos,Eresos,Gera, andMolyvos (the ancient Mythimna).
According to later Greek writers, Mytilene was founded in the 11th century BC by the family Penthilidae, who arrived fromThessaly and ruled the city-state until a popular revolt (590–580 BC) led byPittacus of Mytilene ended their rule. In fact, the archaeological and linguistic records may indicate a lateIron Age arrival of Greek settlers, although references in Late Bronze Age Hittite archives indicate a likely Greek presence then. According toHomer'sIliad, Lesbos was part of the kingdom ofPriam, which ruled fromTroy. In the Middle Ages, it was underByzantine and thenGenoese rule. Lesbos wasconquered by theOttoman Empire in 1462. The Ottomans then ruled the island until theFirst Balkan War in 1912, when it became part of the Kingdom of Greece.
InModern Greek, the letterbeta ⟨β⟩ is pronounced and transliterated as[v], thus producing the alternative formLesvos. An older name for the island that was maintained inAeolic Greek wasἼσσα (Íssa).Pliny the Elder also refers to the island with the namesἱμερτή (himertḗ,'desirable') andΛασία (Lasía, often understood as'shaggy').[7] In Greece, Lesbos is commonly referred to as Mytilene (Μυτιλήνη) after its capital.[9] Some suggest that the name derives from theAnatolian root "muwa" meaning power,[7] while others have suggested a link to the ancient Greek word μυτίλος (mytilos), meaningmussel, or a type thereof.[10][11] The ending-ene appears to be the common Greek place name suffix (-enos inmasculine) indicating provenance.[7] The island is also sometimes called the "Island of the Poets", alluding to renowned native poets likeAlcaeus andSappho.[12][13]
Lesbos has been inhabited since at least 3000 BC. The oldest artifacts found on the island may date to the latePaleolithic period.[14] Important archaeological sites on the island are theNeolithic cave ofKagiani, probably a refuge for shepherds, the Neolithic settlement ofChalakies, and the extensive habitation of Thermi (3000–1000 BC). The largest habitation is found in Lisvori, dating back to 2800–1900 BC, part of which is submerged in shallow coastal waters.
Lesbos is mentioned in twoHittite texts from theLate Bronze Age, a period during which the island appears to have been a dependent of theSeha River Land. TheManapa-Tarhunta letter recounts an incident in which a group of purple-dyers from Lesbos defected from the Sehan king.[15]
According to ClassicalGreek mythology, Lesbos was thepatron god of the island.Macareus of Rhodes was reputedly the first king whose many daughters bequeathed their names to some of the present larger towns. In Classical myth his sister,Canace, was killed to have him made king. The place names with female origins are claimed by some[who?] to be much earlier settlements named after local goddesses, who were replaced by gods; however, there is little evidence to support this.Homer refers to the island as "Macaros edos," the seat of Macar.Hittite records from the LateBronze Age name the islandLazpa and must have considered its population significant enough to allow the Hittites to "borrow their Gods" (presumably idols) to cure their king when the local gods were not forthcoming. It is believed that emigrants from mainland Greece, mainly fromThessaly, entered the island in the Late Bronze Age and bequeathed it with the Aeolic dialect of the Greek language, whose written form survives in the poems ofSappho, amongst others. In classical times, the cities of the island formed apentapolis, comprisingMytilene,Methymna,Antissa,Eresos, andPyrrha.[16] Pyrrha was destroyed in an earthquake in 231 BC, and Antissa by theRoman Republic in 168 BC.[16]
Two of thenine lyric poets in the Ancient Greek canon, Sappho andAlcaeus, were from Lesbos.Phanias wrote history. The seminal artistic creativity of those times brings to mind the myth ofOrpheus to whomApollo gave alyre and theMuses taught to play and sing. When Orpheus incurred the wrath of the god Dionysus he was dismembered by the Maenads and of his body parts his head and his lyre found their way to Lesbos where they have "remained" ever since.Pittacus was one of theSeven Sages of Greece. In classical times,Hellanicus advanced historiography andTheophrastus, the father of botany, succeededAristotle as the head of the Lyceum. Aristotle andEpicurus lived there for some time, and it is there that Aristotle began systematic zoological investigations.[18]
View of the Roman aqueduct
Theophanes, the historian who recordedPompey's campaigns, was also from Lesbos. As the Greek novelDaphnis and Chloe is set on Lesbos, the author,Longus, is usually assumed to be from the island. The abundant grey pottery ware found on the island and the worship ofCybele, the great mother-goddess ofAnatolia, suggest the cultural continuity of the population fromNeolithic times. When the Persian kingCyrus the Great defeatedCroesus (546 BC) the Ionic Greek cities of Anatolia and the adjacent islands became Persian subjects and remained such until the Persians were defeated by the Greeks at theBattle of Salamis (480 BC). The island was governed by anoligarchy inarchaic times, followed by quasi-democracy inclassical times. Around this time,Arion developed the type of poem calleddithyramb, the progenitor of tragedy, andTerpander invented the seven-note musical scale for the lyre. For a short period it was a member of theAthenian confederacy, its apostasy from which is recounted byThucydides in theMytilenian Debate, in Book III of hisHistory of the Peloponnesian War. InHellenistic times, the island belonged to variousSuccessor kingdoms until 79 BC when it passed intoRoman hands. Remnants of its Roman medieval history are three impressive castles. The cities of Mytilene and Methymna have been bishoprics since the 5th century. By the early 10th century, Mytilene had been raised to the status of ametropolitan see. Methymna achieved the same by the 12th century.[19]
During the Middle Ages, Lesbos belonged to theByzantine Empire. In 802, the Byzantine EmpressIrene was exiled to Lesbos after her deposition and died there.[19] The island served as a gathering base for the fleet of the rebelThomas the Slav in the early 820s.[19] In the late 9th century, it was heavily raided by theEmirate of Crete. As a result, the inhabitants of Eresos abandoned their town and settled inMount Athos.[20] In the 10th century, it was part of thetheme of theAegean Sea, while in the late 11th century it formed adioikesis (fiscal district) under akourator in Mytilene.[19] Inc. 1089–1093, the island was briefly occupied by theSeljuk Turkish emirTzachas, ruler ofSmyrna, but he was unable to capture Methymna, which resisted throughout.[19][20] In the 12th century, the island became a frequent target for plundering raids by theRepublic of Venice.[19]
After theFall of Constantinople in 1453, the Gattilusi continued to rule Lesbos as tributary vassals to theOttoman Empire, until the island wasconquered by SultanMehmed II in September 1462.[19][20] After the capture of Lesbos, the richer inhabitants were moved toConstantinople in order to repopulate the city, some boys and girls were taken away into imperial service, but the rest of the population remained. Mehmed II brought in Muslim settlers fromRumelia andAnatolia, and encouraged hisJanissaries to settle there and take local wives.[16][20] Among them was Yakub, the father of the pirate admiralHayreddin Barbarossa.[16] Named Midilli (مدللى) after its capital, Mytilene, the island became asanjak (province) of theEyalet of Rumelia, and after 1534 of theEyalet of the Archipelago.[20] Mytilene and Molova (the Turkish name for Molyvos/Methymna) became seats ofkadis. The cathedral of Mytilene was converted into a mosque. Otherwise, the organization of the local Orthodox church was not altered.[16]
In 1464, as part of theFirst Ottoman–Venetian War, the Venetians underOrsato Giustiniani occupied the fort of Agios Theodoros, but failed to capture the rest of the island, and destroyed the castle upon their withdrawal. Another attack occurred in 1474, when the Venetians underPietro Mocenigo raided the island.[16] During theSecond Ottoman–Venetian War, a Venetian-led fleet of 200 shipsbesieged Mytilene, but the attack was defeated byŞehzade Korkut. His father, SultanBayezid II, then reinforced the Castle of Mytilene with artillery bastions.[16]
The large majority of the island's population remained Greek Christian, although there was a sizeableMuslim community, formed from both immigrants and converts; from 7.4% of households in 1488, it rose to a peak of 19.45% in 1831 before starting to decline in relative terms, reaching 14% in 1892. The Islamization process peaked between 1602 and 1644.[16] The Muslims lived throughout the island. Relations between the two communities were generally good, and Lesbians were often bilingual in bothGreek andOttoman Turkish.[20] During Ottoman rule, the compulsorydevshirme system was implemented into the island, where the locals including Muslim landowners and the state representatives negotiated enlisting their teenagers into the Ottoman military by preventing some boys from being levied and sneaking others into the levied groups. For example, in the winter between 1603 and 1604, 105 boys were levied from the island and Lesvos was the only Island that the levy was implemented on the levy of this period.[21]
Lesbos prospered from trade, and Mytilene was considered the busiest Ottoman port in theAegean Sea. West European representatives are attested in the city already in 1700, acting as vice-consuls for the consulates in Smyrna. The island exported olives and olive oil, wheat, grapes, raisins and wine, figs, fish, dairy products, acorns, soap, leather and hides, pitch and livestock.[20] Mytilene itself increased five-fold in population during the Ottoman period. A number of new mosques were erected in the city, and Hayreddin Barbarossa built amadrasa,dervish lodge, andimaret erected in his hometown.[16] Many of the early Ottoman buildings, as well as the city walls, were destroyed in the earthquake of 1867.[16]Mevlevi andBektashi lodges are attested, since 1544 for the former, and since 1699 for the latter.[16] Molyvos, which was the island's second city for most of the Ottoman period, also experienced growth, doubling in size; unlike Mytilene, the Muslim element came to predominate, and comprised over half the population by 1874. Mosques were built and fortifications were undertaken during the longCretan War with Venice. But during the 19th century, the town declined rapidly in importance and number of inhabitants, a decline which continued to modern times.[16] In the mid-18th century, the castle and settlement ofSigri were established to protect the western coast from pirate attacks.[16]
European warships offMytilene during the 1905 incident.
The relative prosperity of the island—wealth was apparently concentrated among the Greek Christian bourgeoisie rather than the Muslim community[20]—contributed to the island not taking part in theGreek War of Independence in 1821–1829.[16] During the second half of the 19th century, this prosperity became evident in the construction of large and ornamented mansions and churches; the Muslims followed suit, employing the fashionableNeo-Classical andNeo-Gothic styles in their own renovations of their mosques, especially after the destructive 1867 earthquake.[16] The Ottoman writer and liberal politicianNamık Kemal served in the local administration in 1877–1884.[16] In 1905, four European powers seized the customs and telegraph offices in the island to pressure the Ottoman government to accept their plan for an international commission that would supervise the provinces ofMacedonia.[20]
In 1912, theFirst Balkan War broke out between the kingdoms ofGreece,Bulgaria,Serbia andMontenegro, against theOttoman Empire over the independence and expansion of Christian Balkan states. Under Rear AdmiralPavlos Kountouriotis, Greek naval forces landed at Lesbos on 21 November 1912, commencing theBattle of Lesbos. Kountouriotis sent an ultimatum to secure Mytilene under Greece, which Ottoman officials agreed to, before fleeing the city.[22] The operation to annex the rest of the island was placed under Colonel Apollodoros Syrmakezis.[23] Syrmakezis led 3,175 troops towards an Ottoman camp inFilia, reaching the outskirts of the city on 19 December, with an attack planned for the following morning. However, Ottoman military commanders approached Syrmakezis with a request for an armistice and Ottoman surrender was finalised on 21 December 1912, a month after the commencement of the battle.[24] Nine Greek troops were killed and 81 were injured during the battle.[25] The following year, the Ottoman Empire denied their previous agreement to cede Lesbos to Greece, until theTreaty of London.[26][16]
In theGreco-Turkish population exchange that followedWorld War I and theGreco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, the local Muslims left the island and Lesbos returned to a fully Greek Christian population. In 1922, manyGreek refugees of the war and the concurrentGreek genocide settled in Lesbos. These refugees were mostly women and children as the men were either fighting or had died in battle. A statue of a mother cradling her children named the "Statue of the Asia Minor Mother" was donated by the refugees and erected in Mytilene.[27] Twenty years later, duringWorld War II,Nazi Germany conducted an invasion of Greece andYugoslavia, with both being defeated in 1941 and subsequently divided between theAxis powers. Lesbos was occupied by Germany until 10 September 1944, when Greece was liberated.[28][29][30][31]
Lesbos is known to be one of the Greek island touristic hotspots, especially during its tourism season of April, May, June, and July.[33]Mytilene airport management recorded 47,379 tourists visiting Lesbos in its 2015 tourism season. Therefugee crisis has since slowed down tourism to the island, with a 67.89% decrease rate from June 2015 to June 2016. 6,841 Europeans on 47 flights arrived in Lesbos during its 2016 tourism season, compared to July the previous year, which saw 18,373 Europeans fly to the island on 130 flights.[33] 94 cruise ships full of tourists arrived in Lesbos in 2011 and only one in 2018.[34] Of the refugee crisis' impact on tourism, Maria Dimitriou, a local shop owner fromMithymna, said, "2015 was a very good year for tourism and then, suddenly they started to arrive. The refugees began arriving in mid-July, when the hotels were full of tourists. There were refugees everywhere, lying down with all their trash. And after this, tourism stopped."[34]
In 2019, the head of the Lesbos chamber of commerce, Vangelis Mirsinias, toldThe Jakarta Post that the island's administration is trying to "woo back the tourists" and they "want to remind people of how beautiful" Lesbos is."[34] He advocated for theEuropean Union to help in advertising and also said, "The economy is still paying the impact of the crisis. It will need time and money to change this image."[34] Lesbos is also a hotspot forDutch tourists and one Dutch tourist said that tourism had halted because people "did not feel like seeing all this misery" of the refugees.[34] One local told the publication that residents had become "fed up" and "people are angry towards the government and towards Europe: they told us not to worry, the camps won't last. But it's still there", whilst another business owner explained that he had lost a third of his business and "blames all the negative media attention" for the lack of tourists.[34]The Jakarta Post also reported that tourists have increased in numbers in recent years, with 63,000 arriving in 2018.[34] TheCOVID-19 pandemic has also damaged the island's tourism industry.[35]
In April 2022, the Greek government announced a dedication of €2 million in restoring tourism in Lesbos and four other islands.[36] In October 2022, it was announced that Lesbos would return to the cruise ship industry.[37] Konstantinos Moutzouris, the governor of the North Aegean Region, which Lesbos is under, explained that the region's administration will run a study "in order to develop cruise tourism on the island."[37] The deputy governor of tourism, Nikolaos Nyktas, believed that the cruise industry "suits the island and its culture", while the head of development for the project, Ioannis Bras, said that the island could "offer a lot to the cruise market".[37]
In English and most other European languages, includingGreek, the termlesbian is commonly used to refer to homosexual women. This use of the term derives from the poems ofSappho, who was born in Lesbos and who wrote with powerful emotional content directed toward other women.[38] Due to this association, the town ofEresos, her birthplace, is visited frequently byLGBTQ tourists.[39]
Topography of LesbosDetailed map of LesbosMount Olympus’ peak rises 967 metres over LesbosAgiasos village
Lesbos lies in the far east of the Aegean sea, facing the Turkish coast (Gulf of Edremit) from the north and east; at the narrowest point, theMytilini Strait is about 5.5 km (3.4 mi) wide. In late Palaeolithic/Mesolithic times it was joined to the Anatolian mainland before the end of theLast Glacial Period.[40] The shape of the island is roughly triangular, but it is deeply intruded by the gulfs ofKalloni, with an entry on the southern coast, and ofGera, in the southeast.[41]
The island is forested and mountainous with two large peaks, Mount Lepetymnos at 968 m (3,176 ft) and Mount Olympus at 967 m (3,173 ft) (not to be confused withMount Olympus in Thessaly on the Greek mainland), dominating its northern and central sections.[42] The island's volcanic origin is manifested in severalhot springs and the two gulfs. Lesbos is verdant, aptly namedEmerald Island, with a greater variety of flora than expected for the island's size. Eleven millionolive trees cover 40% of the island, together with other fruit trees. Forests of Mediterraneanpines, chestnut trees and someoaks occupy 20%, and the remainder isscrub,grassland or urban. The island is also one of the best in the world for bird watching.[43]
The island has ahot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa in theKöppen climate classification). The mean annual temperature is 18 °C (64 °F), and the mean annual rainfall is 750 mm (30 in). Its exceptional sunshine makes it one of the sunniest islands in the Aegean Sea. Snow and very low temperatures are rare.
This geopark was enlarged from former "Lesvos Petrified Forest Geopark". Lesbos contains one of the few knownpetrified forests, called thePetrified forest of Lesbos, and it has been declared aProtected Natural Monument. Fossilised plants have been found in many localities on the western parts of the island. The fossilised forest was formed during the LateOligocene to Lower–MiddleMiocene, as determined by the intensevolcanic activity in the area. Neogenevolcanic rocks dominate the central and western part of the island, comprisingandesites,dacites andrhyolites,ignimbrite,pyroclastics,tuffs, andvolcanic ash. The products of the volcanic activity covered thevegetation of the area and thefossilization process took place during favourable conditions. The fossilized plants are silicified remnants of asub-tropical forest that existed on the northwest part of the island 20–15 million years ago.
Twelve historic churches on the island were listed together on the 2008World Monuments Fund'sWatch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world. The churches date from the Early Christian Period to the 19th century. Exposure to the elements, outmoded conservation methods, and increased tourism are all threats to the structures. The following are the 12 churches:[48]
Due to its proximity to the Turkish mainland, Lesbos is one of the Greek islands most affected by theEuropean migrant crisis that started in 2015.Refugees of the Syrian Civil War came to the island in multiple vessels every day.[51] As of June 2018, 8,000 refugees were trapped when a deal between Europe and Turkey removed their route to the continent in 2016.[clarification needed] After that, living conditions deteriorated and the possibility of movement to Europe dimmed.Moria Refugee Camp was the largest of the refugee camps and held twice as many people as it was designed to accommodate.[52] By May 2020, Moria had 17,421 refugees living there.[35]
On 9 September 2020, thousands of migrants fled from the overcrowded Moria camp after a fire broke out. At least 25 firefighters, with 10 engines, were battling the flames both inside and outside the facility.[53] A smaller-scale facility, thePikpa camp catered for a segment of the refugee population until its closure in October 2020, whereupon the occupants were transferred to the "old"Kara Tepe Refugee Camp.[54]
The Greek government maintains that the fires were started deliberately by migrants protesting that the camp had been put in lockdown due to aCOVID-19 outbreak amongst the migrants in the camp. On 16 September 2020, four Afghan men were formally charged with arson for allegedly starting the fire.[55] Two other migrants, both aged 17, which is below the age of full adult criminal responsibility in Greece, were also allegedly involved in starting the fire, and were held in police detention on the mainland.[56]
After the closure of the Moria camp, atemporary facility was rapidly set up at Kara Tepe.[57] The Greek government announced in November 2020 that a new closed reception centre will be built in the Vastria area near Nees Kydonies, on the border between Mytilene and Western Lesbos, and will be completed by late 2021.[58]
Lesbos is depicted inAssassin's Creed Odyssey as the northeasternmost Aegean Island, the center of the island is where the player's character can encounterMedusa.[59]
The main printed newspapers of the city areEmpros,Ta Nea tis Lesvou, andDimokratis. Online newspapers includeAeolos,[60]Stonisi,[61]Emprosnet,[62]Lesvosnews,[63]Lesvospost,[64] andKalloninews.[65]
Hall, Richard C. (2000).The Balkan Wars, 1912–1913: Prelude to the First World War. London: Routledge.ISBN0-415-22946-4.
Richter, Heinz A. (1998).Greece in World War II (in Greek). transl by Kostas Sarropoulos. Athens: Govostis.ISBN978-960-270-789-0.
Tomasevich, Jozo (1975).War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: The Chetniks. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.ISBN978-0-8047-0857-9.
Επίτομη Ιστορία των Βαλκανικών Πολέμων 1912-1913 [Concise History of the Balkan Wars 1912–1913]. Athens: Hellenic Army General Staff, Army History Directorate. 1987.OCLC51846788.
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