LESVOS

Situated in the northeast Aegean, Lesvos is Greece’s third largest island, after Crete and Euboea. Many refer to the island as Mytilene, the name of its capital town. Lesvos was the birthplace of Alcaeus and Sappho, leading representatives of ancient lyric poetry, and of statesman and philosopher Pittacus, one of the seven sages of Greece. In modern times, both the folk painter Theophilos and the Nobel-winning poet Odysseas Elytis hailed from Lesvos. In antiquity, Lesvos flourished with such major cities as Mytilene, Mithymna and Eressos. The island fell from the Byzantines to the Genoese and, in 1461, to the Ottoman Turks. Lesvos was liberated by the Greek navy during the Balkan Wars in 1912 and was united with Greece in 1914. Boasting a varied landscape, wetlands, thermal springs, important monuments and pilgrimage sites, a rich and diverse architectural heritage, as well as unique sites (such as the petrified forest), Lesvos never fails to enchant. The island is also famous for its traditional products, which include ouzo, olive oil and cheeses.