Mithymna Μήθυμνα | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Location within the regional unit | |
  Mithymna | |
| Coordinates:39°22′N26°10′E / 39.367°N 26.167°E /39.367; 26.167 | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | North Aegean |
| Regional unit | Lesbos |
| Municipality | West Lesbos |
| Area | |
| • Municipal unit | 50.166 km2 (19.369 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 51 m (167 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
| • Municipal unit | 1,933 |
| • Municipal unit density | 38.53/km2 (99.80/sq mi) |
| • Community | 1,335 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 811 08 |
| Area code | 22530 |
| Vehicle registration | MY |
| Website | mithymna.gr |
Mithymna (Greek pronunciation:[ˈmiθimna]) (Greek:Μήθυμνα, also sometimes spelledMethymna) is a town and formermunicipality on the island ofLesbos,North Aegean,Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality ofWest Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit.[2] Before 1919, its official name was Μόλυβος -Molyvos;[3] that name dates back to the end of theByzantine Era, but is still in common use today.
It is located NE ofEressos, N ofPlomari and NW ofMytilene.
The town (pop. 1,399 at 2011 census) is on the northern part of the island, just some 6 km north of the popular beach town ofPetra. One of the most noticeable features of the town is the oldGenoesefortress on the hill in the middle of the town. The town'sagora is located on the uphill road to the fortress and is popular among tourists, with many historic shops, cafés and restaurants.
The municipal unit of Míthymna stretches eastward from the town along the northern part of the island; it is the island's smallest municipal unit in land area at 50.166 km².[4] Its population was 2,255 at the 2011 census. The next largest towns in the municipal unit are Árgennos (pop. 240) and Sykaminéa (207).
Molyvos Beach is one of theBlue Flag beaches in Lesbos. The shoreline is pebbled, but the seabed consists entirely of soft sand and remains shallow for a considerable distance. The agora and fortress are visible from the beach.
AsMethymna, the city was once the prosperous second city of Lesbos, with afounding myth that identified aneponymousMethymna (Greek: Μήθυμνα), the daughter ofMacar and married to the personification of Lesbos. In epic tradition, the heroAchilles besieged Methymna during the time of theTrojan War, and was assisted by the Methymnian princessPisidice who opened the city gates in exchange for him marrying her. Achilles then sacked Methymna with Pisidice's help, but afterwards he had her stoned by his soldiers for treason.[5]
Very little is known about Methymna in the Archaic period. The story ofArion and the dolphin, which involves theCorinthian tyrantPeriander and is evidently set at the turn of the 7th century BCE, suggests that Methymna was already a prominent city with far-reaching contacts across the Greek world at this period.[6]Herodotus tells us that at some point in the Archaic period, Methymna enslaved the city ofArisba on Lesbos: this will have greatly increased the territory of Methymna, as well as giving it access to the fertile land around the Gulf ofKalloni.[7] We are also told by a local historian,Myrsilus of Methymna, who wrote in the first half of the 3rd century BCE, that Methymna founded the city ofAssos which was on the coast of Asia Minor opposite Methymna.[8] However, another local historian,Hellanicus of Lesbos, writing in the mid-5th century BCE, instead simply says Assos was an Aeolian foundation and does not specify a particular city as its founder.[9] This has led some historians to doubt Myrsilus, and instead suggest that this is an example of "local Methymnaean manipulation of the past", although this could equally be true of Hellanicus.[10]
Methymna had a long-standing rivalry withMytilene, and during thePeloponnesian War it sided with Athens during the Mytilenaean revolt in 428 BCE when all the other cities of Lesbos sided with Mytilene.[11] When the Athenians put down the revolt the following year, only Methymna was spared from having its territory turned into acleruchy.[12] After 427, Methymna andChios were the only members of theDelian League to remain self-governing and exempt from tribute, indicating the privileged position Methymna held within the Athenian Empire.[13] Methymna was briefly captured by the Spartans in summer 412, before quickly being retaken by the Athenians: in describing this episode, the historianThucydides indicates that the Methymnaeans were much more inclined to side with Athens than Sparta.[14] This was likewise the case in 411, when a group of Methymnaeans who were in exile atCyme inAeolis attempted to return to Methymna by force, but were rebuffed by the population.[15] When the Spartan commanderKallikratidas besieged Methymna in 406, the city stayed loyal to its Athenian garrison and held out until it was betrayed by several traitors.[16]
Our knowledge of the history of Methymna in the 4th century is limited, but its prominence as apolis is firmly attested by the city's silver and bronze coinage.[17] By at least the 340s BCE, the tyrantKleommis had expelled the city's democrats and remained in power for the next decade.[18] We do not know what happened to Kleommis after this, although it is likely that he was expelled when the island fell toPhilip II's generalsParmenion andAttalus in 336.[19] The political history of the following four years are poorly attested: we know that Lesbos changed hands several times between the Macedonian forces ofAlexander the Great and the Persian forces ofMemnon of Rhodes, that Memnon captured Methymna in 333 BCE, and that when Alexander's admiralHegelochus recaptured Methymna in 332 BCE its tyrant wasAristonicus not Kleommis.[20] However, it is not clear whether Aristonicus was made tyrant when the Persians recaptured Methymna in 335, or whether Kleommis was re-installed and Aristonicus only made tyrant in 333. Whatever the case, in 332 Alexander gave Aristonicus over to the newly restored Methymnaean democracy to try, and he was found guilty and put to death by torture.[21]
In c. 295 BCE, Methymna struck silver drachms for KingLysimachus, indicating that the city was part of his kingdom at this time.[22] However, by the 250s BCE at the latest, Methymna had come under the sway of thePtolemaic Kingdom.[23] During this period, a festival in honour of the Ptolemies, the Ptolemaia, was instituted, and public documents produced by the city were dated by the regnal years of the Ptolemies.[24] Worship ofSarapis, an Egyptian cult patronized by the Ptolemies, was probably introduced to Methymna at this period, and remained an important part of the city's life for several centuries.[25]
In the 2nd century BCE Methymna increasingly pursued a policy of seeking closer ties with the emerging power of Rome. Methymna remained loyal to Rome during theMacedonian Wars, and in 167 BCE it was rewarded when the Romans punished neighbouringAntissa for disloyalty and transferred its territory to Methymna.[26] The territory of Methymna was ravaged by KingPrusias II of Bithynia along with several other cities in this region in ca. 156 BCE, but the Romans later compelled Prusias to pay reparations of 100 talents for the damage done.[27] In 129 BCE, an inscription from Methymna shows that the city formed a formal alliance with Rome.[28] A dedication to the Galatian princessAdobogiona (fl. c. 80 - 50 BCE), who was the mistress ofMithridates VI of Pontus, a long-standing enemy of Rome, may indicate a cooling of relations between Methymna or Rome or simply political expediency.[29]
Methymna gained a particular reputation among Romans forviticulture during theImperial period.Virgil speaks of the vines of Methymna as the best and most numerous on Lesbos, whileOvid invokes them as an example of something which is proverbially numerous and bountiful.[30] The distinctive strong taste of Methymnaean wine is mentioned bySilius Italicus, andPropertius uses this as a point of reference when describing another Greek wine.[31] When Virgil and Silius wished to indicate the exceptional quality of Phalernian wine, Methymnaean wine is among the vintages which they say it surpasses.[32] We also learn fromHorace that Methymnaean grapes were equally prized for the excellent vinegar which could be produced from them and which he describes accompanying a sumptuous eel dish.[33] The medical writerGalen, who was a native of nearbyPergamon, considered all the wines of Lesbos to be excellent, but ranked that of Methymna the first in quality, that of Eresos second, and that of Mytilene third.[34] In the novelDaphnis and Chloe, thought to be by the Mytilenaean aristocratLongus and set in the region of Lesbos between Methymna and Mytilene, the vine harvest is the most important time of the agricultural year, and the Mytilenaean owner of the land in this region times his annual visit to coincide with the end of this harvest when the year's profit can be established.[35]
The first attested bishop of Methymna was Christodoros in 520 CE.[36] In 640, Methymna was mentioned in theEcthesis, pseudographically attributed toEpiphanius of Salamis, as an autocephalous archdiocese, and around 1084, it was made a metropolitan see underAlexius I Comnenus. TheFourth Crusade brought Latin control, on the strength of which theRoman Catholic Church maintains a purelytitular see of Methymna; there were 40 Roman Catholics in 1908.
In 840 the city was plundered by Cretan Arabs and many of the inhabitants sold into slavery.[37] The fortifications of Methymna were strengthened following this attack, and again at the end of the 11th century, as we learn from a building inscription dating to 1084/5.[38] A few years later in 1089/90 these fortifications helped the inhabitants of Methymna successfully repel an attack by EmirTzachas of Smyrna.[39] These fortifications again kept Methymna safe when the Genoese Lord of Phokaia,Domenico Cattaneo, seized the rest of Lesbos in 1335, but was unable to take Methymna or the equally well-fortified town ofEresos.[40] Along with the rest of Lesbos, Methymna became a possession of theGattelusi family in 1355. Methymna repelled an Ottoman invasion force in 1450, but its defences were over-powered in a second invasion in 1458 when the admiral Ismaelos seized the city with a force of 150 ships.[41] Using Methymna as a base, the whole island was gradually brought under Ottoman control by September 1462.
Molyvos is the last castle occupied by the Turks in 1462 after strong resistance. The first centuries of the Ottoman Occupation include confiscations of people’s fortunes, hard taxation imposing and cruelty on behalf of the conquerors. This eventually leads to the shift of the chair of the Metropolis of Mithymna to the neighboring Kalloni where it still remains to this day. A great part of the population also chooses to go over to the opposite coast in search of a better life.
As Molova under theOttoman Empire, the city was akaza of thesanjak of Metelin in thevilayet ofRhodes.
After the Kucuk-Kainartzi treaty (1774) and the Hatti Sherif (1839) and Hatti Humayun (1856) decrees, the economy gradually goes back to the hands of the locals who are now in charge of the shipping and transit commerce with the minor Asia coasts and the Balkan countries and even Russia.
Olive oil, soap, wine, fish and salted fish, business activities in Minor Asia, all accumulate a great deal of wealth and power in the hands of the people of Molyvos imprinted on the settlement’s mansions, schools and educational institutes. Male and female schools are established, “The Muse Fraternity” with its library, the local Club, the athletic Club “Arion” etc.
After the defeat of the Ottomans in theFirst Balkan War (1912), the Greek navy liberated and incorporatedLesbos in the Greek Kingdom.
The province of Mithymna (Greek:Επαρχία Μήθυμνας) was one of theprovinces of the Lesbos Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipal units Mithymna,Agia Paraskevi,Eresos-Antissa,Kalloni andPetra.[42] It was abolished in 2006.
| Year | Community population | Municipal unit population |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 1,427 | - |
| 1991 | 1,333 | 2,359 |
| 2001 | 1,636 | 2,375 |
| 2011 | 1,570 | 2,255 |
| 2021 | 1,335 | 1,933 |
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