Plaka () is a village in the northeasternmost part of the island of

Lemnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is part of the municipal unit of

Moudros Moudros () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula of t ...

. The island of

Imbros Imbros (; ; ), officially Gökçeada () since 29 July 1970,Alexis Alexandris, "The Identity Issue of The Minorities in Greece And Turkey", in Hirschon, Renée (ed.), ''Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1923 Compulsory Population Exchang ...

in Turkey is just 24 km northeast. It is situated somewhere in the middle of the straight line between

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

and

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

. Some believe that it is the ''Ermaion lepas'' of the ancient, through which was transmitted with fire the news of the sack of Troy to Argos and Mycenae. Although the edge has an elevation of just 70 m, the cape comes deep into the sea and it is easily seen from those two areas. Therefore, in 1912 a 30 m high rotating lighthouse was built with a luminous range of . Plaka takes its name from the nearby cape Plaka, the northeasternmost point of Lemnos. The cape was mentioned by older travellers under different names: ''Palaqa burnu'' (Piri Reis 1521), ''Blava'' (Belon 1548, Dapper 1688, Choiseul-Gouffier 1788, Lacroix 1858) and ''Plaka'' (Conze 1858, Tozer 1859, De Launay 1894, Hauttecoeur 1903, Fredrich 1904).

Archaeological sites

Axia

The currently deserted medieval settlement of Axia (Αξιά) or Naxa (Νάξα) is situated between the villages of

Panagia Panagia (, fem. of , + , the ''All-Holy'', or the ''Most Holy''; pronounced ) (also transliterated Panaghia or Panayia), in Medieval and Modern Greek, is one of the titles of Mary, Mother of God, used especially in Orthodox Christianity and E ...

and Plaka. It was mentioned in 1321 as "Agioi Anargyroi eis tin Nakissan". According to Argyrios Moschidis its name is derived from the ancient area of Akesa (Άκεσα), named after the verb ''akeomai: regain my health, recover'' by

Philoctetes Philoctetes ( ''Philoktētēs''; , ), or Philocthetes, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Poeas, king of Meliboea (Magnesia), Meliboea in Thessaly, and Demonassa or Methone (Greek myth), Methone. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer ...

who was said to be cured there from a snake bite. A monastery was later built at the site dedicated to the "Agioi Anargyroi" (

Holy Unmercenaries Holy Unmercenaries () is an epithet applied to a number of Christian saints who did not accept payment for good deeds. These include Christian healers or physicians who, in conspicuous opposition to medical practice of the day, tended to the ...

). In the area coins and pottery were found and thereby was characterized as an archeological site. Angelis Michelis mentions an old pier. Further north in the locality Rousounia (Ρουσούνια) springs with radioactive water for bathing and mud baths are located. There was a chapel known as Agios Charalambos nearby. Sick people from all over Lemnos used to come here. Several decades ago expatriates from the USA built a new chapel of Agios Charalambos and a block of cells for the visitors.

Kastrin

A 1355 paper under the census of the

Great Lavra The Monastery of Great Lavra () is the first monastery built on Mount Athos, on the Athos peninsula in geographical Macedonia, northeastern Greece. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of . The founding of the ...

Monastery in Athos mentioned that there was a fortified settlement known as Kastrin (Καστρίν) in the area around Plaka. Probably it is the same as the Kastrioti Castle where in 1459

Kritovoulos Michael Critobulus (; c. 1410 – c. 1470) was a Greek politician, scholar and historian. He is known as the author of a history of the Ottoman conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire under Sultan Mehmet II. Critobulus' work, along with the writings ...

from

landed and expelled the Venetians from the island. In 1521, the Turkish admiral

Piri Reis Muhiddin Piri ( 1470 – 1553), better known as Piri Reis (), was an Ottoman cartographer, admiral, navigator, corsair, and geographer. He is primarily known today for his cartographic works, including his 1513 world map and the '' Kitab-ı ...

named it "Burun Hisãr", (literally the ''Castle of the Cape''). He found it deserted because the inhabitants had resettled in Palaiokastro Myrina during the reign of

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

(1481–1512). This fortress was located at a tiny peninsula east of the village next to an old port. The ruins are now known as ''Palaiokastro'' or ''Vriokastro'' (Βριόκαστρο). As Vriokastro it is found in the maps of

Conze Edward Conze, born Eberhard Julius Dietrich Conze (1904–1979), was a scholar of Marxism and Buddhism, known primarily for his commentaries and translations of the Prajñāpāramitā literature. Biography Conze's parents, Dr. Ernst Conze (1872 ...

(1858) and Fredrich (1904). Conze found it ruined. There were many cisterns in the internal, one of these still strong and in a wall he found an ancient inscription.

Chryse

In the southern part of the Vriokastro peninsula at a distance of 800 m from the coast and east of the shoal ''Vina'', ruins of a sunken ancient city were found, examined by professor Moutsopoulos in 1969. He spotted a block of buildings with walls up to 2 meters, monolith lintels and stone paved roads. The complex is similar to the prehistoric settlement Poliochne. The ruins were first described in 1785 by Choiseul-Gouffier, who identified with the homeric island of Chryse. Obviously in the past there was land to the east of the Plaka peninsula, which was either united with the mainland by a narrow panhandle or was a separate island. On this stretch of land was probably located the city of Chryse of the Homeric period—sunk in 197 BC—, its ruins now visible in the depths of the sea.

History

The area around Plaka was at first a seasonal dwelling for inhabitants of Agios Ypatios and Palaiopoli (

Hephaestia Hephaestia and Hephaistia (), or Hephaestias or Hephaistias (Ἡφαιστίας), was a town of Ancient Greece, now an archeological site on the northern shore of Lemnos, Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It was named in the honor of Heph ...

) who had farm land in the area. After 1823 several farmers began to live there permanently and established a settlement.

who visited the area in 1858 found only a few isolated huts, therefore he did not mark the village in his map. He found though a few people who led and guided him to Vriokastro. It was first mentioned as a village at the 1863 census: it had 60 families and the settlement was referred to as Plaka or Neochorion. In 1874 there were 70 families and 87 houses in the village, known then as "Symferoupoli". This name was given by the bishop Joachim III, referring to the interest (συμφέρον) of its residents who fled from Agios Ypatios. The name "Symferoupoli" was not used anymore after 1888 when bishop Joachim died. Since that time the name "Plaka" was used, and it was mentioned as such by the travellers De Launay (1894) and Fredrich (1904). In 1870, the residents opened an informal school. In 1886, a school building was built together with the residents from

. It became a community school in 1887. It had two classes, for further education the students had to go to

Kontopouli Kontopouli () is a village and a community in the municipal unit of Moudros in the northeastern part of the island of Lemnos, Greece. The community includes the small villages Agios Alexandros and Agios Theodoros. Its total area is 37.04 km2. ...

. A new school building was built in 1928-1929. In 1938, the school had 107 students. The church of Agios Dimitrios was built in 1896 at the location of an older church. The elaborately carved baroque

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

is older (late 18th century), and comes from the monastery of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

. The settlement grew steadily until the 1960s. In 1928 it had 518 inhabitants, in 1961 578. In the 1970s a gradual decline began. In 2021, the village had 309 inhabitants. Today, Plaka is still one of the most lively villages in the island. It has an active cultural association, that maintains the old customs. Together with the youth of Panagia a soccer club was founded, Aetos.

Population

Economy

Although isolated in an extremity of Lemnos, the village saw good economical development, mainly based on agriculture (cereals, cotton, livestock, honey), fishing and sponge diving. Until 1922, there was additional income from seasonal migration to and from the coast of Asia Minor.

Events

The feast of Saint Charalampus and carnaval are celebrated every year. There is an annual meeting of former residents of

at the chapel of Agia Anna. Plaka is only 12 nautical miles (20 km) from Imbros. Since the 1970s many former residents of Imbros came here to perceive the island from far. This gradually turned into an annual festival in Plaka with a revival of traditional Imbrian customs. For this purpose, the Saint Anne chapel was built in 2003.

People

* Komninos Piromaglou, politician, writer and historian (1899–1980), founder of

EDES The National Republican Greek League (, ''Ethnikós Dimokratikós Ellinikós Sýndesmos'' (EDES)) was a major anti-Nazi resistance group formed during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. The largest of the non-communist resistanc ...

( ΕΔΕΣ) and member of the Parliament with EDA ( ΕΔΑ) in 1958. *Spyridon P. Pilitsis, one of the first Greek air pilot during the interwar period. *Michael S. Pilitsis, General of the Greek Army, nephew of Piromaglou and Spyridon Pilitsis.

Sites of interests

*Agios Dimitrios Church *Agios Charalambos *The lighthouse *Vriokastro

Bibliography

*Tourtsopoulou-Stefanidou Vasilili, Ταξιδιωτικά και γεωγραφικά κείμενα για τη νήσο Λήμνο (15ος-20ος αιώνας) = ''Travelling and Geographic Sources of Lemnos Island (15th–20th Centuries)'',

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, 1986. *Lemnos CD: Λήμνος αγαπημένη = ''Loveable Lemnos'' *

Theodoros Belitsos Theodoros or Theodorus () is a masculine given name, from which Theodore is derived. The feminine version is Theodora. It may refer to: Ancient world :''Ordered chronologically'' * Theodorus of Samos, 6th-century BC Greek sculptor, architect ...

, Η Λήμνος και τα χωριά της = ''Lemnos and its Villages'', 1994

References

{{Lemnos div Populated places in Lemnos