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

Northern Aegean Islands - Limnos

 

Limnos, or Lemnos, is a relatively isolated Greek island in the Aegean Sea, halfway between northeastern Greece and the Turkish coast. Like many of the Greek isles, it’s composed primarily of volcanic rock, with the rugged landscape typical of this. Limnos is quite small, with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, but it has one of the best natural harbors in the Aegean at Moudhros Bay, and thus is a popular stopping point for Mediterranean cruises. Limnos is bare of trees on the western side, but the valleys and the eastern plains are green and fertile. In addition to Moudhros Bay, Limnos hosts a major airfield. It is best known for its amazingly advanced Neolithic sites and for the ancient town of Hephaestia, which was an ancient center for the worship of the Greek god of fire, volcanoes, and blacksmiths, Hephaestus.

In the 1930s, four ancient superimposed settlements were excavated on the east coast of Limnos. The oldest cities, two ancient Neolithic sites, were equipped with stone baths, and were the most advanced Neolithic civilization yet discovered in the Aegean. There were also cities dated to the Copper Age and to the Early Bronze age, both settled long before the Greeks even existed. Limnos was a center of bronze and copper works, as one might expect of civilizations that worshipped Hephaestus. An ancient cemetery dating to around the 8th century BC has also been excavated near Hephaestia. The small town of Palaiopolis exists today in Hephaestia’s ancient site.

In Greek myth and legend, Lemnos was a stopping place for the Argonauts, who spent several months there; this may be because they found Lemnos occupied solely by women. It was also said that Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep, rested in a dark misty cave on Lemnos, and that a portion of the river Lethe ran through his bedchamber. For fans of Greek myth, Lemnos is a wonderful place to visit.

In the 7th century BC, Lemnos was conquered by Darius, and it was for several years a bone of contention between Persia, Sparta, and Athens. It remained, however, primary Athenian until Rome rescinded most of Greek control over its possessions. Later, it was primarily Byzantine in flavor until the Venetians moved into the area. After a period of Turkish rule, when it was used as a place for banishing exiles, Lemnos joined the Greek kingdom in the early 20th century. It has long been a place of strategic importance for the military.

Lemnos was also known for Lemnian earth, or Lemnia sphragis, which is just soil dug from a mound near Hephaestia; historically, it has been used as an astringent for snakebites and wounds, and as a cure for the plague.