CULTURE

LESVOS ISLANDCULTURE

Culture

Architecture

Of the three largest islands, the architecture of Lesvos has the greatest affinity with the neighboring coasts of Asia Minor and the Balkan architecture of inland patterns.

The Roman aqueduct of Moria with its enormous arches, and the Byzantine castles of Mytilene and Molyvos, remain unique witnesses of the island's former glory days, before the Muslim element assumed an important role in the development of the history of the island's buildings, after the Ottoman rule of 1462.

The "hayati" and the "sakhnisi", characteristic elements of the architecture of Smyrna and Constantinople, are often found in the mansions of Molyvos and Mytilene, showing the influence of the conqueror on the upper classes mainly who, due to trade contacts, had relations with the hinterland.

Settlements such as Mandamados, Kalloni and Polychnitos, Plomari and Agiasos make their appearance in this period in Lesbos, while the traditional stone-built houses and cobbled cobblestone streets are today picturesque corners, ideal scenes for honorable ouzo retreats...

Neoclassical to boldly eclectic townhouses can be found in Mytilini, but also in Molyvos and Plomari - witnesses of the heyday - when Lesbos supplied European markets with its extra virgin olive oil and musk soaps.

The cultural influences of Europe, in addition to the urban, also influenced the industrial architecture of Lesbos, whose intensive industrialization mainly concerned the collection and processing of olive fruit. The abandoned industrial complexes of the island (olive mills, oil mills, soap factories and tarsanades) are today a major part of the architectural heritage of Lesvos.

Museums
From Theophilos’ «first-told truth» to Teriade’s «Grands Livres», from Picasso’s cubism to Mirό’s surrealism, from Giacometti’s vague figures to Le Corbusier’s preciseness, the distance is short and can be spanned on Lesvos.

Theofilos Chatzimihail Museum

Theofilos Chatzimihail Museum was built in 1964 in Varia, a suburb of Mytilene; expenses were undertaken by a Mytilenian publisher of art books in Paris, Stratis Eleftheriades (Teriade). It now houses 86 paintings by the famous Greek painter who was born and spent his childhood years in Varia, after which he left and went to Smyrna and from there on to Mt. Pelion. He stayed there for 30 years, wandering around dressed up at times as a tsolias (a Greek soldier wearing a traditional military dress uniform) or, at other times, as Alexander the Great. He returned to Mytilene after it was freed from Ottoman rule and finished his cycle of painting. In his works themed around nature, history, mythology and folk tales, Theophilos portrayed greekness and illustrated Greek folk traditions in an unprecedented manner.

Stratis Eleftheriades Teriade Museum

Stratis Eleftheriades Teriade and Theophilos Museums, with the olive grove that surrounds them, form a unique cultural complex on the island. The «Grands Livres» (Big Books), published by Teriade, contain original works of art by the greatest artists of his time. Each painter not only provides illustrations for the text but creates a book, which in the end is in itself an extraordinary piece of art and can be found in this house filled with culture. Apart from the «Grands Livres», Teriade also created the magazine «Verve», filled with lithographs by Chagall, Matisse, Picasso, Léger, as well as copies of manuscripts from the Middle Ages. Finally, works by famous Greek painters, such as Tsarouchis, Kanellis, Vakirtzis and others have found a wonderful home.

Old and New Archeological Museum in Mytilene

The Byzantine Museum

The Byzantine Museum is situated across the church of Agios Therapon. It hosts a collection of heirlooms of great ecclesiastical value, portable icons, vestments, ecclesiastical relics, manuscripts and old ecclesiastical books, elaborate iconostases of old churches, as well as an icon of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, created by the popular artist Theophilos, all of which unravel the island’s ecclesiastical history.

Museum of Industrial Olive Production of Lesvos

In Agia Paraskevi, Lesvos, the Cultural Foundation of the Piraeus Group created and operates the Museum of Industrial Olive Production of Lesvos, which is housed in the site of the old community olive mill whose "holds" were renovated by K.P. LEADER.

The preserved historical equipment, which has been restored, is highlighted exemplary, through its demonstrative function and its framing with digital productions.

The evolution of machinery is also presented, with an emphasis on the changes brought about by the introduction of mechanical movement in olive oil production.

With your tour of the Museum you can learn about the three main stages of the olive oil production process: the crushing of the fruit, the pressing of the olive pulp and the separation of the oil from the water.

Ouzo Museum

In the place of production of the famous ouzo, the picturesque Plomari of Lesvos, there is also the only museum in the world dedicated to ouzo. Next to the modern, privately owned distilleries of Varvagianni Distillery, you will find the Ouzo Museum, which was created with a lot of love by the family of the same name and financed by K.P. LEADER initiative. Here you can see the first tools used for bottling and affixing the famous Blue Label and the first distillation cauldron built in 1858 in Istanbul, where centuries-old secrets and techniques were tested to give birth to the recipes of the distillation blends.< /p>

Soap Museum

The Soap Museum operates in the Polikentro of the Municipality of Plomari (the renovated and converted former Poulia soap factory), where all the paraphernalia for making the product, labels from various brands of lesbian soaps, as well as the commercial correspondence of the owners of the soap factory with foreign markets are on display , where a conference center also operates, it was financed by K.P. LEADER initiative.

Monuments of historic interest
Material relics of the past in Lesvos are numerous and scattered in various locations. We cite 4 monuments from different time periods, which illustrate the multi-faceted cultural profile of the island.

The Ancient Theatre of Mytilene

A flourishing society, such as the one in Mytilene, could not but have its theatre. The first constructive phase of the Ancient Theatre of Mytilene dates to the beginning of the Hellinistic period, but during the post-Roman period, the theatre was reconstructed and it is believed to have held 10,000 people. Plutarch, in his Life of Pompey, suggests that the Roman general marvelled at the theatre of Mytilene and copied its construction plans for the theatre he built in Rome in 55 A.D. It is worth a visit for its wonderful view alone.

The Roman Aqueduct

A part of the Roman Aqueduct and, more specifically, an archway 170m long with 17 arches, is found in the location of Morias. The construction supplied water from Mt. Olympus to Mytilene and it is a marvel of Roman construction technique. Its construction dates back to the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 3rd century AD.

The Castle of Mytilene

The Castle of Mytilene, one of the biggest in the Mediterranean, is situated in the northeast side of the city, on the highest part of the peninsula, where the ancient acropolis used to be. Its oldest phase dates to the 6th century and it was part of Justinian’s construction plan. Conquerors and earthquakes have left significant marks on it, but it still is one of the best examples of fortifying architecture. It has been repaired and conserved since the ’70s, when it started serving as a monument.

Traditional crafts

The soil composition of Lesvos, which includes clay has led to an impressive growth of pottery throughout time. Even today pottery workshops or “tsoukouladika” as the locals call them can be found all over the island. Wood carving has always been developed on the island.

Experienced craftsmen carve on olive, chestnut and cherry tree wood, giving life and shape to the logs, honouring the saints at the churches and monasteries and decorating the houses with the renowned wood-carved furniture of Lesvos.

Source: «Nisson Periplous» Island touring alternatively, Visiting the greek islands off-the-beaten track ISBN: 978-960-98860-4-8
Photos: «Discover Lesvos» Thematic Tour Guide, Municipality of Lesvos ISBN: 978-960-99587-8-3
Photos: Efi Paroutsa