Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. It is separated from

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

by the narrow Mytilini Strait. On the southeastern coast lies the island's capital and largest city,

Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University o ...

, whose name is also used as a moniker for the island. The regional unit of Lesbos, with the seat in Mytilene, comprises the islands of Lesbos,

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of masti ...

Ikaria Icaria, also spelled Ikaria ( el, Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was be ...

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

, and

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...

. Mytilene is also the capital of the larger North Aegean region. The population of the island is 83,068, a third of whom live in the capital, while the remainder is distributed in small towns and villages. The largest are

Plomari Plomari ( el, Πλωμάρι) is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality Mytilene, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the only sizab ...

, Kalloni, the

Gera Villages Gera or Yera ( el, Γέρα) is a town on the Aegean island of Lesbos in Greece. It once stood as one of the largest ports of the island. According to scholars the ancient name may have been Portus Hieraeus; Pliny the Elder mentions a Lesbian cit ...

, Agiassos,

Eresos Eresos (; el, Ερεσός; grc, Ἔρεσος) and its twin beach village Skala Eresou are located in the southwest part of the Greek island of Lesbos. They are villages visited by considerable numbers of tourists. From 1999 until 2010, Ereso ...

, and Molyvos (the ancient Mythimna). According to later Greek writers, Mytilene was founded in the 11th century BC by the family Penthilidae, who arrived from

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...

and ruled the city-state until a popular revolt (590–580 BC) led by Pittacus of Mytilene ended their rule. In fact, the archaeological and linguistic record may indicate a late

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

arrival of Greek settlers although references in Late Bronze Age Hittite archives indicate a likely Greek presence then. The name Mytilene itself seems to be of Hittite origin. According to

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'', Lesbos was part of the kingdom of Priam, which was based in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

. Much work remains to be done to determine just what happened and when. In the Middle Ages, it was under

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and then Genoese rule. Lesbos was conquered by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1462. The Ottomans then ruled the island until the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

in 1912, when it became part of the Kingdom of Greece. The island is widely known as the home of the ancient Greek poet Sappho, from whose association with homosexuality the word '' lesbian'' derives its modern meaning. It is also sometimes called the "Island of the Poets".

Etymology

The name is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

(, 'forested, woody'), possibly a Hittite borrowing, as the original Hittite name for the island was . An older name for the island that was maintained in Aeolic Greek was (). The traditional English form ''Lesbos'' (pronounced , also ) comes from Ancient Greek. In Modern Greek, letter is pronounced and transliterated as , producing the alternative form ''Lesvos''. In Greece, it is often referred to as Mytilene (), after its capital.

History

Prehistory

Lesbos has been inhabited since at least 3000BC. The oldest artifacts found on the island may date to the late Paleolithic period. Important archaeological sites on the island are the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

cave of Kagiani, probably a refuge for shepherds, the Neolithic settlement of Chalakies, 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. It is also thought that Pelasgians, Archaeans and

Aeolians The Aeolians (; el, Αἰολεῖς) were one of the four major tribes in which Greeks divided themselves in the ancient period (along with the Achaeans, Dorians and Ionians).. Name Their name mythologically derives from Aeolus, the mythical a ...

chronologically lived on the island between 1507 BC and 1100 BC.

Ancient and classical era

According to Classical

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Lesbos was the

patron god A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety an ...

of the island.

Macareus of Rhodes In Greek mythology, Macareus (Ancient Greek: Μακαρεύς, ''Makareus'' means "happy") or Macar ( /ˈmeɪkər/; Μάκαρ ''Makar'') was one of the Heliadae, sons of Helios and Rhodos. Mythology Macareus and his brothers, Triopas, Actis ...

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 to be much earlier settlements named after local goddesses, who were replaced by gods; however, there is little evidence to support this.

refers to the island as "''Macaros edos''", the seat of Macar. Hittite records from the Late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

name the island ''Lazpa'' 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 from

, 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 of Sappho, amongst others. Two of the

nine lyric poets The Nine Lyric or Melic Poets were a canonical group of ancient Greek poets esteemed by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria as worthy of critical study. In the Palatine Anthology it is said that they established lyric song. They were: *Alcman o ...

in the Ancient Greek canon, Sappho and Alcaeus, were from Lesbos. Phanias wrote history. The seminal artistic creativity of those times brings to mind the myth of

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...

to whom

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

gave a lyre and the

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

s 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 the Seven Sages of Greece. In classical times, Hellanicus advanced historiography and

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...

, the father of botany, succeeded

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

as the head of the Lyceum. Aristotle and Epicurus lived there for some time, and it is there that Aristotle began systematic zoological investigations. LESBOS, Unattributed Koinon mint

Theophanes, historian who recorded

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

's campaigns, wrote the famous novel

Daphnis and Chloe ''Daphnis and Chloe'' ( el, Δάφνις καὶ Χλόη, ''Daphnis kai Chloē'') is an ancient Greek novel written in the Roman Empire, the only known work of the second-century AD Greek novelist and Hellenistic romance, romance writer Longus ...

. The abundant grey pottery ware found on the island and the worship of

Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian language, Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian language, Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother godde ...

, the great mother-goddess of

, suggest the cultural continuity of the population from

times. When the Persian king Cyrus the Great defeated Croesus (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 the Battle of Salamis (480 BC). The island was governed by an

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...

in archaic times, followed by quasi-democracy in

classical times Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

. Around this time, Arion developed the type of poem called dithyramb, the progenitor of tragedy, and Terpander invented the seven note musical scale for the lyre. For a short period it was a member of the Athenian confederacy, its apostasy from which is recounted by

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...

in the ''

Mytilenian Debate The Mytilenean Debate (also spelled "Mytilenaean Debate") was the Athenian Assembly concerning reprisals against the city-state of Mytilene, which had attempted unsuccessfully to shake off Athenian hegemony during the Peloponnesian War. The Debat ...

'', in Book III of his ''

History of the Peloponnesian War The ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' is a historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which was fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). It was written by Thucydides, an ...

''. In

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

times, the island belonged to various Successor kingdoms until 79 BC when it passed into Roman hands. Remnants of its Roman medieval history are three impressive castles. Metileme by Giacomo Franco

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 a

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a ...

. Methymna achieved the same by the 12th century.

Middle Ages and Byzantine era

During the Middle Ages, Lesbos belonged to the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. In 802, the Byzantine Empress Irene was exiled to Lesbos after her deposition, and died there. The island served as a gathering base for the fleet of the rebel

Thomas the Slav Thomas the Slav ( gr, Θωμᾶς ὁ Σλάβος, Thōmas ho Slavos, – October 823) was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt in 821–23 against Emperor Michael II the Amorian (). A ...

in the early 820s. In the 10th century, it was part of the theme of the

, while in the late 11th century it formed a ''dioikesis'' under a ''kourator'' in Mytilene. In the 1090s, the island was briefly occupied by the Seljuk Turkish emir Çaka Bey, but he was unable to capture Methymna, which resisted throughout. In the 12th century, the island became a frequent target for plundering raids by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

Ottoman era

After the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) the island passed to the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzant ...

, but was reconquered by the Empire of Nicaea sometime after 1224. In 1354, it was granted as a fief to the Genoese Francesco I Gattilusio, whose family ruled Lesbos until it was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1462. It remained under Turkish rule, named () in Turkish. The historian Doukas wrote the history of the early Ottoman Turks. During Ottoman rule, the compulsory

devshirme Devshirme ( ota, دوشیرمه, devşirme, collecting, usually translated as "child levy"; hy, Մանկահավաք, Mankahavak′. or "blood tax"; hbs-Latn-Cyrl, Danak u krvi, Данак у крви, mk, Данок во крв, Danok vo krv ...

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.

Modern era

In 1912, the island was taken by Greek forces during the

. In 1922, many

Greek refugees Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War ...

of the Greco-Turkish War and Greek Genocide settled in Lesbos. These refugees were mostly women and children as the men were either fighting or had already lost their lives in the war. 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. Twenty years later, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

conducted an invasion of Greece and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, with both being defeated in 1941 and subsequently divided between the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

. Lesbos was annexed into Germany until 10 September 1944, when Greece was liberated. The poet

Odysseus Elytis Odysseas Elytis ( el, Οδυσσέας Ελύτης , pen name of Odysseas Alepoudellis, el, Οδυσσέας Αλεπουδέλλης; 2 November 1911 – 18 March 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as th ...

, the descendant of an old family of Lesbos, received the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

Tourism

Lesbos is known to be one of the Greek island touristic hotspots, especially during its tourism season of April, May, June and July. Mytilene airport management recorded 47,379 tourists visiting Lesbos in its 2015 tourism season. The refugee 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. 94 cruise ships full of tourists arrived in Lesbos in 2011 and only one in 2018. Of the refugee crisis' impact on tourism, Maria Dimitriou, a local shop owner from

Mithymna Mithymna () ( el, Μήθυμνα, also sometimes spelled ''Methymna'') is a town and former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality of West Lesbos, of wh ...

, 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." In 2019, the head of the Lesbos chamber of commerce, Vangelis Mirsinias, told ''

The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Niskala Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian med ...

'' that the island's administration is trying to "woo back the tourists" and they "want to remind people of how beautiful" Lesbos is." He advocated for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

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." Lesbos is also a hotspot for Dutch tourists and one Dutch tourist said that tourism had halted because people "did not feel like seeing all this misery" of the refugees. 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. ''The Jakarta Post'' also reported that tourists have increased in numbers in recent years, with 63,000 arriving in 2018. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

has also damaged the island's tourism industry. In April 2022, the Greek government announced a dedication of €2 million in restoring tourism in Lesbos and four other islands. In October 2022, it was announced that Lesbos would return to the cruise ship industry. 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." 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". In English and most other European languages, including

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, the term '' lesbian'' is commonly used to refer to homosexual women. This use of the term derives from the poems of Sappho, who was born in Lesbos and who wrote with powerful emotional content directed toward other women. Due to this association, the town of

, her birthplace, is visited frequently by LGBT tourists.

Geography

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, the Mytilini Strait is about wide. In late Palaeolithic/Mesolithic times it was joined to the Anatolian mainland before the end of the Last Glacial Period. The shape of the island is roughly triangular, but it is deeply intruded by the gulfs of Kalloni, with an entry on the southern coast, and of

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

, in the southeast. The island is forested and mountainous with two large peaks, Mount Lepetymnos at and Mount Olympus at (not to be confused with

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

in Thessaly on the Greek mainland), dominating its northern and central sections. The island's volcanic origin is manifested in several

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

s and the two gulfs. Lesbos is verdant, aptly named ''Emerald Island'', with a greater variety of flora than expected for the island's size. Eleven million olive trees cover 40% of the island together with other fruit trees. Forests of Mediterranean

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

s, chestnut trees and some oaks occupy 20%, and the remainder is scrub,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

or urban.

Climate

The island has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(''Csa'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

). The mean annual temperature is , and the mean annual rainfall is . Its exceptional sunshine makes it one of the sunniest islands in the Aegean Sea. Snow and very low temperatures are rare.

Geology

The entire territory of Lesbos is "Lesvos Geopark", which is a member of the

European Geoparks Network The European Geoparks Network (EGN) functions as the regional organization of the Global Geoparks Network (GGN) and the UNESCO International Geosciences and Geoparks Programme (UNESCO-IGGP). Its main objective is to ensure cooperation between geop ...

(since 2000) and Global Geoparks Network (since 2004) on account of its outstanding geological heritage, educational programs and projects, and promotion of geotourism. This geopark was enlarged from former "Lesvos Petrified Forest Geopark". Lesbos contains one of the few known

petrified forests Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of '' fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. ' ...

, called

Petrified forest of Lesbos The Lesvos Petrified Forest is a petrified wood forest on the island of Lesbos, Greece. The forest was formed from the fossilized remains of plants and trees, which can be found in many localities on the western part of Lesbos Island. Finds now ...

, and it has been declared a Protected Natural Monument. Fossilised plants have been found in many localities on the western part of the island. The fossilised forest was formed during the Late Oligocene to Lower–Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, as determined by the intense

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called a ...

in the area. Neogene

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic ...

s dominate the central and western part of the island, comprising

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...

s, dacites and rhyolites,

ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surro ...

, pyroclastics,

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

s, and

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to refer ...

. The products of the volcanic activity covered the

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...

of the area and the

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

ization process took place during favourable conditions. The fossilized plants are silicified remnants of a

sub-tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

forest that existed on the northwest part of the island 20–15 million years ago.

Landmarks

* Catholic Church of Theotokos, where part of the relics of

Saint Valentine Saint Valentine ( it, San Valentino; la, Valentinus) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his Saints' Day has been associated with a ...

are kept *Castle of Molyvos (Mithymna) *

Castle of Mytilene The Castle of Mytilene, also Fortress of Mytilene, is located in Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, North Aegean. It is maintained in good condition and is one of the largest castles in the Mediterranean covering an area of 60 acres. The fi ...

*Castle of Sigri *Church of Panagia Agiasos *Monastery of Agios Raphael *Monastery of Taxiarchis *Roman Aqueduct of Lesbos (Mória) *The Bridge at Kremasti *Early Christian Basilica of Agios Andreas in Eressos *Temple of Klopedi *Christian Temple of Chalinados * Ancient Sanctuary of Messa *Acropolis of Ancient Pyrra *Monastery of Ipsilou *Monastery of Limonas *

Statue of Liberty (Mytilene) The ''Statue of Liberty'' (Greek: Άγαλμα της Ελευθερίας) is a bronze statue erected at the harbor of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos in Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a count ...

*Ouzo Museum "The World of Ouzo" in

*Barbayannis Ouzo Museum (Plomari) *The Mosque in Parakila *Catacomb of Mary Magdalene * Sourlangas Leather Factory

Endangered sites

Twelve historic churches on the island were listed together on the 2008

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

's Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world. The churches range in 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: *Katholikon of Moni Perivolis *Early Christian Basilica Agios Andreas Eressos *Early Christian Basilica Afentelli Eressos *Church of Agios Stephanos Mantamados *Katholikon of Moni Taxiarchon Kato Tritos *Katholikon of Moni Damandriou Polichnitos *Metamorphosi Soteros Church in Papiana *Church of Agios Georgios Anemotia *Church of Agios Nikolaos Petra *Monastery of Ipsilou *Church of Agios Ioannis Kerami *Church of Taxiarchon Vatousa

Administration

Lesbos is a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and since 2019 it consists of two municipalities:

and

West Lesbos West Lesbos ( el, Δυτική Λέσβος, Dytiki Lesvos), sometimes also referred to as West Lesvos, is a municipality on the island of Lesbos in the North Aegean region in Greece. The municipality was formed from a decision by the Ministry of ...

. Between the 2011 Kallikratis government reform and 2019, there was one single municipality on the island: Lesbos, created out of the 13 former municipalities on the island. At the same reform, the regional unit Lesbos was created out of part of the former

Lesbos Prefecture Lesbos Prefecture ( el, Νομός Λέσβου) was one of the prefectures of Greece. It comprised three main islands: Lesbos itself, Lemnos, and the smaller island of Agios Efstratios. Its capital was the town of Mytilene, on Lesbos. In 2011 th ...

. The municipality of Mytilene consists of the following municipal units (former municipalities): * Agiasos (Αγιάσος) * Evergetoulas (Ευεργέτουλας) *

(Γέρα) * Loutropoli Thermis (Λουτρόπολη Θερμής) *

(Μυτιλήνη) *

(Πλωμάρι) The municipality of West Lesbos consists of the following municipal units: * Agia Paraskevi (Αγία Παρασκευή) * Eresos-Antissa (Ερεσός-Άντισσα) * Kalloni (Καλλονή) * Mantamados (Μανταμάδος) *

(Μήθυμνα) * Petra (Πέτρα) *

Polichnitos Polichnitos ( el, Πολίχνιτος) is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on ...

(Πολίχνιτος)

Economy

The economy of Lesbos is essentially agricultural in nature, with olive oil being the main source of

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. Fo ...

. Tourism in

, encouraged by its international airport and the coastal towns of Petra,

, Molyvos and

, contribute substantially to the economy of the island.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and the manufacture of

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

and

ouzo Ouzo ( el, ούζο, ) is a dry anise-flavored aperitif that is widely consumed in Greece. It is made from rectified spirits that have undergone a process of distillation and flavoring. Its taste is similar to other anise liquors like pastis, ...

, the Greek national liqueur, are the remaining sources of income.

Media

*TV: Aeolos TV *Newspapers: '' Dimokratis'', '' Embros Lesvou'' *Online News: Aeolos, Stonisi, Emprosnet, Lesvosnews, Lesvospost.

Migrants

Due to its proximity to the Turkish mainland, Lesbos is one of the Greek islands most affected by the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

that started in 2015. Refugees of the Syrian Civil War came to the island in multiple vessels every day. As of June 2018, 8,000 refugees were trapped when a deal between Europe and Turkey removed their route to the continent in 2016. After that, living conditions deteriorated and the possibility for movement on 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. By May 2020, Moria had 17,421 refugees living there. On September 9, 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. A smaller-scale facility, the Pikpa 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. The Greek government maintains that the fires were started deliberately by migrants protesting that the camp had been put in lockdown due to a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

outbreak amongst the migrants in the camp. On September 16, 2020, four Afghan men were formally charged with arson for allegedly starting the fire. 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. After the closure of the Moria camp, a temporary facility was rapidly set up at Kara Tepe. 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.

Culture

Cuisine

Local specialities: *''Chachles'', type of tarhana *''Kydonato'', meat with quinces *''Revithato'', meat with chickpeas *'' Sardeles'' from Kalloni * Ladotyri Mytilinis, cheese *''Selinato'', meat with celery *'' Sfougato'', omelette *''Skafoudes'', stuffed eggplants *''Sougania'', stuffed onions *

Ouzo Ouzo ( el, ούζο, ) is a dry anise-flavored aperitif that is widely consumed in Greece. It is made from rectified spirits that have undergone a process of distillation and flavoring. Its taste is similar to other anise liquors like pastis, ...

*'' Platseda'' (dessert) *'' Finikia'' (dessert) *'' Amygdalota'' *''Retseli''

In popular culture

*Films shot on the island include ''

'' (1931) by

Orestis Laskos Orestis Laskos ( el, Ορέστης Λάσκος; 11 November 1907 – 17 October 1992) was a Greek film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 55 films between 1931 and 1971. He also wrote scripts for 24 films between 1929 and 1971. ...

, ''The tree under the sea'' (1985) by Philippe Muyl and ''One Love and the Other'' (1994) by Eva Bergman. *Lesbos is depicted in

Assassin's Creed Odyssey ''Assassin's Creed Odyssey'' is a 2018 action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft. It is the eleventh major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series and the successor to 2017's ''Assassin's Creed ...

as the northeasternmost Aegean Island, the center of the island is where the player's character can encounter

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

Sports

The main football clubs in the island are

Aiolikos F.C. Aiolikos Football Club () is a Greek association football club, based in Mytilene. They currently play on the 6th group of Gamma Ethniki. History The club was established in 1975 after a merger of two local teams – Atlantas and Apollon. Th ...

, Kalloni F.C. and Sappho Lesvou F.C.

Notable residents

* Lesches (8th or 7th century BC), early poet * Sappho (7th and 6th centuries BC), poet * Terpander (7th century BC), poet and citharede *

Alcaeus of Mytilene Alcaeus of Mytilene (; grc, Ἀλκαῖος ὁ Μυτιληναῖος, ''Alkaios ho Mutilēnaios''; – BC) was a lyric poet from the Greek island of Lesbos who is credited with inventing the Alcaic stanza. He was included in the canonical ...

(7th century BC), poet and politician * Arion (7th century BC), poet *

(384–322 BC), philosopher, was born in

Chalkidike Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region con ...

but lived for a time on the island. *

(370–285 BC), philosopher and botanist, successor to Aristotle *

Theophanes of Mytilene Theophanes of Mytilene ( grc-gre, Θεοφάνης ὁ Μυτιληναῖος) was an intellectual and historian from the town of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos who lived in the middle of the 1st century BC. He was a friend of Pompey and wrot ...

(1st century BC), ancient Greek historian * Longus (2nd century AD), ancient Greek author *

Theoctiste of Lesbos Theoktiste of Lesbos ( grc-gre, Θεοκτίστη τῆς Λέσβου) is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Life According to her hagiography, she was born in Methymna on the island of Lesbos, probably in the firs ...

(9th century), hermit saint * Constantine IX Monomachos: Byzantine emperor (1042–1055), resident of Mytilene prior to accession. *

Christopher of Mytilene Christophoros of Mytilene ( gr, Χριστόφορος Μυτιληναῖος, Christophoros Mytilenaios; ca. 1000 – after 1050) was a Greek-language poet living in the first half of the 11th century. His works include poems on various subjects ...

(11th century), poet * Doukas, Byzantine historian *

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an O ...

(1470s–1546), Ottoman admiral * Georgios Jakobides (1853–1932), painter * Gregorios Bernardakis (1848–1925), classical philologist and palaeographer *

Demetrios Bernardakis Demetrios Bernardakis ( el, Δημήτριος Βερναρδάκης, ''Dimitrios Vernardakis'', also transliterated ''Dimitrios Bernardakis''), (3 December 1833—25 January 1907) was a polymath writer and Professor of History at the National and ...

, dramatist * Theophilos Hatzimihail (c. 1870–1934), painter * Georgios Emmanouil Kaldis (1875–1953) lawyer, journalist and politician *

Tériade Tériade is the pen name of Stratis (or Efstratios) Eleftheriades ( el, Στρατής Ελευθεριάδης; 2 May 1897 – 23 October 1983), a native of Mytilene who went to Paris in 1915 at the age of eighteen to study law, but who instead bec ...

(1889–1983), art critic, patron, and publisher *

Hermon di Giovanno Hermon di Giovanno (born Hermolaus Ionides, el, Ερμόλαος Ιωνίδης; 17 December 1897 – April 1969) was an American mystic painter. He was born in Mytilene, Lesbos Island, Ottoman Empire (now Greece), but lived for most of his life ...

(c. 1900–1968), painter * Odysseas Elytis (1911–1996), poet, Nobel Prize in Literature 1979 * Tzeli Hadjidimitriou (b. 1962), photographer and writer * Stratis Myrivilis (1890–1969), writer * Elias Venezis, writer *

Ahmed Djemal Ahmed Djemal ( ota, احمد جمال پاشا, Ahmet Cemâl Paşa; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), also known as Cemal Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Djemal ...

(1872–1922), Ottoman commander, politician * Kostas Kenteris, athlete (running, 200 meters), Gold Olympic medal Sydney 2000, World and European championship gold medal * Alex Martinez, graffiti artist, illustrator, muralist * Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha (1 April 1855 – 1922), Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire * Tamburi Ali Efendi (1836–1902), Turkish classical composer * Steffen Streich, ultra-endurance cyclist

Gallery

File:Fire ship by Volanakis.jpg, "The burning of the Ottoman frigate at

by Dimitrios Papanikolis" by

Konstantinos Volanakis Konstantinos Volanakis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Βολανάκης; 1837 - 29 June 1907) was a Greek painter who became known as the "father of Greek seascape painting". Biography Volanakis was born at Heraklion on Crete, to parents wh ...

File:Lesbos. Port Authority Building Mytilene, c. 1910.jpg, Ottoman flag in Mytilene in the last days of the Ottoman period File:Greek troops land at Mytilene, 1912.jpeg, Greek troops land at Mytilene, 1912 File:Petra town.JPG, Petra, Lesbos File:After the scraping of the salt Kalloni.jpg, Extraction of the salt in Lesbos File:Άποψη ελαιοτριβείου αριστερά.jpg, Museum of industrial olive oil production, Agia Paraskevi File:Lesbos Limonas011.JPG, Limonas monastery File:Μονή Παμμεγίστων Ταξιαρχών Μανταμάδου (2) ΛΕΣΒΟΣ.jpg, Taxiarchis Monastery File:Lesbos Agiassos04.JPG, Panagia Church in Agiasos

References

External links

*
Lesvos News

Elstat
*
Guide of Lesbos Island

News of Mytilene and Lesvos Island
* {{Authority control * Islands of Greece Regional units of the North Aegean Lesbianism Global Geoparks Network members Landforms of Lesbos Islands of the North Aegean Geoparks in Greece Territories of the Republic of Genoa Hellenic Navy bases Populated places in Lesbos