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Mytilene
is the capital city of Lesvos. The town of Mytilini was
first founded on the small island where the Enetic castle
was later constructed.
Herodotus dates the foundation of the
town, in his work " Homer's Life", 130 years after the
conquest of Troy, around 1053 a.C. Mytilene reached its
highest development around the 7th-6th century with the
philosopher Pittakos and the poets Alkeos and Sapho.
Mytilene got her name by one of Makaras' daughters, the
island' s first colonist.
The
Municipality of Mytilene consists of the villages Agia
Marina, Taxiarches, Loutra, Panagiouda, Moria, Alyfanta,
Afalonas, Pamphila and the city of Mytilene.
Impressive buildings of a neo-classic
architecture, historical monuments, unique archaeological
treasures, like the mosaic-works found at Menandros' s House
(exhibited now at the Archaeological Museum) and the natural
hot springs compose a rich cultural context. In the centre
of Mytilene we will find the Ministry of the Aegean Sea, the
Regional Administration of the North Aegean Sea and the
Central Administration of the University of the Aegean Sea.
The construction of the waste treatment system, not only
contributed to the improvement of the quality of the
citizens' life but led also to the discovery of
archaeological treasures found in the centre of Mytilini.
These archaeological treasures are exhibited either in
modern museums or at specially equipped open - air spaces
that are impressive and have a unique historical value.The
town' s foundations are extended over seven adjoining hills.
The centre of the town is divided into three main parts:
Kioski, which is a very beautiful suburb, the central old
neighbourhoods and the west neighbourhoods. The efforts of
the authorities to reconstruct the centre of the town and to
adapt the needs of the Municipality of Mytilene to the
demands of the new century are remarkable. Kioski, the old
aristocratic suburb of Mytilini where we can find the new
Archaeological Museum, is not far away from the Enetic
Castle.
The Castle was situated on the isolated,
by the channel of Euripus, part of Mytilini and seemed like
a small island. The channel of Euripus, along which there
were a lot of bridges, had been uniting, in the past, the
south port to the north port dividing, this way, Mytilini in
two parts. At Kioski there are still authentic mansions of a
traditional Lesbian architecture. The main street that goes
through Kioski leads to the north port, where we can see the
shattered quay and other ruins of the past. In a small
distance from there, there were found ancient ruins and the
entrance of the channel that was mentioned above.
Important ruins of ancient and roman
structures are also discovered in the north part of Mytilini.
Along the coast that starts from the Custom House (Teloneio),
the visitor has the possibility to enjoy an interesting
stroll, during which he will have the chance to admire the
mansion, where the old Archaeological Museum is established,
the beach that belongs to the Greek Touristic Organism (EOT),
the small and clean beach, called " t' apeili", and above
that, on a small hill among the pine trees, the bust of
Sapho, the poetess, worked out artistically and given to the
Municipality of Mytilini by the American artist Erietta Fors. |