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Lemnos Island
Area: 175 sq. miles
Lemnos lies
adrift in the middle of the north-east Aegean midway between
Mount Athos and Asia Minor. To the north rises Samothraki and
to the south-east Lesvos. The island is still predominantly
dependent on the traditional way of life with the rolling
hills of the interior supporting various forms of agriculture
and the villages by the sea harvesting the depths of the
Aegean. You will still find excellent tourist facilities in
and around the main town of Myrina, an archetypal Greek
harbour town with its tavernas, cafes and narrow streets
filled with all manner of shops. The view from atop the castle
that dominates the town reveals all in panoramic splendor. In
fact, Myrina is so self-contained that many feel no need to
explore Lemnos the island. The island resembles a huge
butterfly, its many bays giving a coastline of some 260 kms.
It is the eighth largest Greek island, which means plenty of
scope for exploration. Beaches are superb, even within Myrina,
being uncrowded, sandy and safe, and there are many to choose
from. The interior is rural and gently contoured. Lemnos is a
traditional Greek island, where priorities are agriculture and
fishing rather than tourism. That said, excursions do run
(notably boat trips and a round-island coach trip); bicycles,
cars and small boats can be rented; and there is a good
selection of watersports.
Myrina, the
capital, is the best place to stay. Bisected by a dominant
Venetian Castro, it is most attractive.
The harbour is archetypal Greek Island with an array of cafιs
and restaurants. There are plenty of small shops in the narrow
lanes behind. Elegant crumbling neo-classical buildings and
good sandy beaches lie to either side.
At Poliochni the remnants of four cities have been found, the
most ancient of which predates Troi. More recently, Lemnos has
witnessed the familiar Mediterranean roll call of conquerors
– Romans, Venetians, Genoese, Turks etc. All
have left their mark on the island. Legend has it that Aphrodite, having
been upset by the local women, gave them all such halitosis that their
husbands imported new wives from Thrace! The Lemnos women promptly
drugged their ex-husbands and new wives and threw their bodies over the
cliffs. As one local guide book put it, ‘After this event a society of
Amazons was created, till the Argonauts reached the island.... The
island was successfully repopulated. |