The island was the birthplace of the luminous daughter of Helios, the later wife of King Minos who became the mother of the terrifying Minotaur. Lesvos is mentioned for a first time by the Hittites. When on Lesvos you will be able to imagine how the Greek fleet sailed to war with Troy for the sake of a single woman. The famous lyrical poet Sappho lived here and composed her sensual poetry which she taught to the young girls of the island. Theophrastus of Erressos, a student of the great Aristotle worked here as a philosopher and natural scientist, studying the flora and fauna. Lesvos was also the setting for the war between Athens and Sparta and the following naval battle of Arginuse. Irne of Byzantium, who brought an end to the first iconoclastic period, died here in exile.
In the 14th century, the Genoese were given the island as a reward for their military assistance in fighting the rival-emperor. After the fall of Constantinople the Gattelusio lost Lesvos to the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan's myrmidons searched here for young men to conscript to the ranks of the elite corps of the Janizariens and they also sought attractive young girls for the harem of what was known as the "Sublime Port" on the Bosporus. Theofilos, the great representative of Greek naive painting, lived here in the 19th century. In 1912, the island was liberated by the Greek fleet during the Greek War of Independence. The Greeks of Smyrna fled here during the Greek-Turkish War of 1922/23 and saved not only their lives, but also a historical record of the 3000 years of Greek colonisation in Asia Minor. The family of Odysseas Elytis, the great writer and Nobel Prize winner came from here, as well as the family of Michael Dukakis, the 1988 US Democratic presidential candidate.
Guided tours (upon request - with charge)