Lésbos (popularly called Mytilíni; Turkish Midilli, Italian Metellino), the third largest of the Greek islands (after Crete and Euboea), lies in an angle formed by the Anatolian coast, which is only 10km/6mi away on the north side of the island and 15km/9mi away on the east side. An island of great scenic beauty, Lésbos is also one of the most fertile parts of Greece. It is broken up by the gulfs of Kalloní and Iéra, which cut deep inland on the southwest and southeast sides of the island. The island's proximity to the mainland of Asia Minor was a major factor in the vicissitudes of its history.
At Thermí, 12km/7.5mi north of Mytilíni, excavation has brought to light a pre-Greek settlement established about 2700 B.C. which belonged to a cultural group embracing also the Troad and the offshore islands as far away as Lemnos. Around 1000 B.C. Aeolian Greeks from Thessaly arrived on the island and founded the cities of Mytilene and Methymna, ruled by aristocratic families who were constantly at odds with one another. About 600 B.C. the tyrant (sole ruler) Pittakos put an end to faction and arbitrary government, retired voluntarily after 10 years and thereafter was accounted one of the Seven Sages. From 546 to 479 B.C. Lésbos was under Persian rule, and after its liberation became a member of the Attic maritime league. Throughout this period, however, and in Hellenistic and Roman times, it was able, like Chios, to maintain its independence.
Lésbos was the home of the poet Terpandros (seventh century B.C.), who was credited with the invention of the seven-stringed lyre; and about 600 B.C. the singer Arion was born in Methymna, the poet Alkaios was born in Mytilene and Sappho, the greatest Greek poetess, was born in Eressos. Sappho instructed young girls in the arts. Another native of Lésbos was the philosopher Theophrastos (322-287 B.C.), who became head of Aristotle's Lykeion (Lyceum) in Athens.
In 1355, a Genoese nobleman named Francesco Gattelusi married a daughter of the Byzantine Emperor, who received Lesbos as her dowry. Thereafter, the Gattelusi family ruled the island as a Byzantine fief until 1462, when Lésbos was captured by the Turks. During the period of Turkish rule, which lasted until 1913, many of the inhabitants moved to the mainland, particularly to the nearby town of Kydonia (now Ayvalak in Turkey). After the catastrophe of 1922-23, their descendants returned to the island, the economy of which was badly hit by the loss of its Anatolian hinterland.
There's an airport eight km/five mi southeast of Mytilíni. Regular flights from Athens five times daily; from Salonica, daily; from Lemnos, several times weekly.
Regular boat service from and to Athens and from and to Kavála, several times weekly (cars carried); from and to Salonica, Rhodes and Kymi, weekly in each case. Ferry connection with Dikili (Turkey).
Lesbos was affected by the forest fires that swept across areas of Greece in the summer of 2007.
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Lesbos
