Cyclades
Islands
: Amorgos, Andros,
Folegandros, Ios,
Kea, Kythnos,
Milos, Mykonos,
Naxos, Paros
and Antiparos, Santorini,
Sifnos, Serifos,
Sikinos, Syros,
Tinos
Northern
Aegean Islands:
Chios, Ikaria,
Limnos, Lesvos,
Samos, Samothraki,
Thassos
Ionian
Islands:
Corfu (Kerkyra), Ithaki,
Kefalonia, Kythera,
Lefkada, Paxos,
Zakynthos
Saronic
Islands:
Aegina, Angistri,
Poros, Hydra,
Salamina, Spetsis
Sporades
Islands:
Alonissos, Skiathos,
Skopelos, Skyros
Dodecanese
Islands:
Astypalia, Halki,
Kalymnos, Karpathos,
Kassos, Kastellorizo,
Kos, Leros,
Nisyros, Patmos,
Rhodes, Symi,
Tilos
Other
Islands:
Crete, Evia,
Cyprus
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Northern Aegean Islands - Lesvos (Lesbos)
The Greek island Lesvos, or Lesbos, is the root of the
word “lesbian;” whether accurate or not, the
women of the island in ancient times gained the reputation
for having love affairs with one another. The most famous
female poet of the ancient
Greeks, Sappho, was from Lesbos; she wrote mostly
poems of love, ambiguously addressed as to the sex of
her lover, which today exist only in fragments. Lesvos
today is a fishing island, clamoring and bustling in the
morning when the fishing ships come in; and it is an island
of agriculture, where the grape
and wine hold sway.
Like most of the Greek isles, Lesvos is an island of
scents; though you can see pictures of the island in books
and magazines, the aroma must be experienced. In the villages,
of course, the aroma of fish holds sway; Lesvos is dependent
upon sardine fishing to bring in much of its income. However,
when you sail near the coast away from fisheries and fishmarkets,
the scent of oregano, olives, thyme, jasmine, and sage
waft to you from the open fields and cultivated gardens
of the island. Perhaps the most overlooked characteristic
of Greece is its odors; in Lesvos, you can experience
them all.
Molyvos is one of the more popular
tourist towns of Lesvos, a traditional and picturesque
town with a sheltered harbor, and streets that are roofed
with trellises filled with grape vines, wisteria, and
jasmine that shade travelers with dappled light during
the day, scenting the air at night. Molyvos is also a
popular spot for artists, who set up easels under the
battlements of a medieval castle nearby. In Mitilini (or
Mytilene), a museum devoted to Theophilos, an artist of
the early 20th century, can be found.
Lesvos is an excellent place for archaeological
and historical tourism. Its archaeological treasures
date back to before the Bronze Age, and include black
pottery from the first Troy, from Thermi. Its later history
took it through occupations by Persia, Athens, Sparta,
Athens, Persia, Macedonia, and many others until the Romans
made Mitilini a free city. The Byzantine Empress Irene
was exiled to Lesvos in the 9th century; later it was
conquered by the Turks and then given to the Genoese.
Lesvos is beautiful, with fertile plains and valleys
filled with grapes, wheat fields, and olive groves. It
is, however, plagued by terrible earthquakes; in 1867,
Mitilini was wiped out by one. This may be why there are
few visible ancient remains.
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