History
Ancient
Times:
The evidence
that archeological excavations have bought to
light indicates that Lesvos has been inhabited
since at least the Neolithic period. During
the Bronze age it had already developed an
exceptionally advanced civilization. The
excavations that were carried out in the
nineteen-thirties by the English archeologist
Winifred Lamb in the area around Thermi,
exposed settlement structures of small towns.
After the discovery the settlement was covered
up but visitors can see the portable finds at
the Mytilini Museum: clay pots, figurines,
tools weapons and so forth. These excavations
have revealed that a civilzation developed on
the island similar to the Trojan and Mycenean.
The geographical location of the island
allowed it to be influenced by the neighboring
Troy.
In 1507 B.C. the
island was colonized by the Pelasgians. In
1393-1184 it was ruled by the Aecheans and
from 1100-1000, by the Aeolians who
intermingled with the old population and gave
the island their language and culture. The
people of Lesvs became extremely active on the
sea and colonized the coast of Asia Minor
which became known as the
Coast of the
Mytilinians
. At Troy they build Achilleio in honor of
Achilles and a little further north they built
Sigeio. Their command of the sea brought them
into conflict with the Athenians.
Historical
Times:
When the Persians
seized the state of Lydia in 456 BC, Lesvos
came under their control. In 527 it took part
in the campaign of Kamvysis, King of the
Medians and the Persians, against Egypt and in
513 it assisted Darius against the Scythians.
In 499 it joined in the revolution of the
Ionians against the Persa and in 492 was
subjected by the Persians. In 479 after the
battle of Mykalis, it threw off the Persian
yoke and participated in the Attico-Eleian
League.
During the
Peleponnesian war, with the exception of
Mithymna, the island revolted against the
Athenians and in 427 the Athenian general
Pachis the Epicure conquered the island. The
walls were pulled down and the land divided
among 3000 Athenians. Thousands of Mytilenians
were put to death. I 405 Lesvos seccumbed to
the Spartans who were led by Lysander. There
followed an exchange of power between the
Athenians and the Spartans and in 375 Lesvos
took part in the second Athenian
league.
Aristotle in Lesvos
After the Athenian philospoher Plato died
(347 B.C.) his former student,
Aristotle left Athens and moved to Assos
(nowadays called Behramkale), in Asia Minor
(Turkey). Assos was a city by the sea, 10 km
from Lesvos. There, with the help of other
philosophers (including Theophrastos and
Xenokrates) he founded a philosophy school,
under the protection of Hermeias, the ruler of
Assos and Atarneos. Aristotle soon married
Pythias, who was Hermeias niece, and they
moved to Mythilene, in Lesbos, where they
lived for two or three years. Most
historians of science agree that it was during
this period that Aristotle began his intensive
study of zoology, which is described in
his books "History of animals", "Parts of
animals", "Generation of animals" and a few
others. In those books Aristotles describes
many fishes, birds, insects and land animals
that he found in Lesbos, and several specific
places of this island are mentioned in those
works. In
343 or 342 B.C.
Aristotle and Pythias moved to Pella (the
ancient capital of Macedon) at the invitation
of king Phillip II, to take care of the
education of prince
Alexander.
Although Aristotle's zoological work is
not as well known as his logical
and philosophical books, it was a vast
encyclopaedia of natural history and was
surpassed only in the 18th century. There
is a famous saying by Darwin, who was much
impressed the first time he read
Aristotle's zoological books: "I had not
the most remote notion what a wonderful
man he was. Linnaeus and Cuvier have been
my two gods, though in very different
ways, but they were mere schoolboys to old
Aristotle."
Aristotle's biological research was a
landmark in the history of science; and
that all began in Lesbos, "... where
burning Sappho loved and sung", as
Lord Byron put it.
Roberto de Andrade Martins.
Professor of History of
Science at the University of Campinas
(Unicamp),
Brazil
After the battle of
Granikos, the Mytilenians abolished the
oligarchy and allied themselves with Alexander
the Great. The brothers, Erigyios and
Laomedon, from Lesvos were childhood friends
of Alexander and he bestowed high ranks on
them. After the death of Alexander at the end
of the third century BC, Lesvos came under the
Ptolemies of Egypt and in 88 BC the Romans
conquered the island.
Roman
Period:
The Romans dominated
the island after the defeat of Mithridates,
King of the Pontus and an ally of the
Mytileneans, by Pompei. The acropolis of
Mytilini was compoletely destroyed and the
islanders severely punished. The fall of the
town was considered a great event and the
Roman orator Cicero sang the praises of
Mytilini from the floor of the Roman senate,
characterizing it as "a town made gorgeous by
it's natural surroundings, it's site, the
facades of it's buildings and it fertile
fields". These praises could be equally
appropriate today.
Pompei came to
Mytilini in 62. In order to honor him the
Mytilenians organized magnificant games that
glorified his military exploits. Pompei
granted a certain amount of autonomy to the
Mytilenians as well as other privileges in
order to satisfy the historian Theophanis the
Mytilenean, his friend and advisor to whom he
gave the rights of a Roman citizen.
The Apostle Paul
came to the island in 52 AD.
During the Roman
occupation the island was used as a place of
exile for eminant figures who had fallen into
disfavor.
The Byzantine
Period:
When the Roman
empire was divided into East and West, Lesvos
became part of the East, that is, the
Byzantine state. The Byzantines neglected the
island. The used it as the Roman's had, as a
place of exile for undesirables. During this
period there were repeated attacks by the
Slavs, Saracens, and the Russians and Lesvos
was plundered by the Venetians and the
Crusaders.
The Hegemony
of the
Gattelusi
: In 1354 Lesvos was ceded as a dowery to the
Genoese noble, Francesco Gattelusi, son-in-law
of the Emperor John Palaiologos. From the
beginning he showed an interest in the
well-being of it's inhabitants and supported
coomerce, literature and the arts. In 1373 he
renovated the fortress of Mytilini as is shown
by the incription over the main gate.
In 1401 Mytilini was
destroyed by an earthquake and Francesco II
was killed when his palace collapsed on him.
In 1445 the island was attacked by the
Bulgarian renogade Baldaoglou and the town of
Kaloni, which had been flourishing
economically, was destroyed. In 1459 Domenicos
Gattelusi was assassinated by his brothere
Nicolo who became the ruler of the
island.
In 1462 Lesvos
succumbed to the Sultan Mohamet II, the
Conqueror, after stiff resistance. The
destruction that followed was terrible. All
the young men and women were sent to
Constantinople and the largest part of the
population was exterminated.
The Turkish
Period:
All economic and
cultural life on the island came to a halt.
The church struggles from the very first days
of the Ottoman Empire to maintain Hellenism in the monasteries. Thus, the spark of faith
and the hope for a national renaissance
remained unextinguished. The monasteries and
the churches became intellectual centers of the island. The secret schools operated
there and preparations were made for the
coming struggle for liberation.
In 1677 the Voivode
Eby Bakir repaired the fortress of Mytilini.
In 1757 the Turks built the fortress of Sigri
with money fromn the inhabitants of Antissa,
Erressos and Ypsilou Monastery through
excessive taxation.
Throughout the
Turkish occupation there were many attacks on
th island. In 1771 the Russian fleet shelled
Turkish ships in the harbor of Mytilini and
bombarded the fortress. In reprisal the Turks
killed Christians.
In 1817 Palaiologos
and Yiorgos Lemonas, members of the
Philikoi
Etaireia
appeared on the
island. In 1821 Dimitris Papanikolis shelled
the Turkish Frigate
Moving
Mountain,
sinking it in the bay of Erressos. In retaliation the
Turks again killed Christians which was
known in history as
The Great
Assault
. In 1850 a large number of Olive trees were
destroyed and many inhabitants were forced to
move to Asia Minor. In 1867 the island was
struck by an earthquake that left thousands
dead and many buildings in ruins.
In 1905 Mytilini was
placed under international occupation. The
patriotic activity of the Mytilinians grew,
it's main centers being Plomari and
Mytiliniwhere
the Metropolitan Kyrillos played the leading
role.
Modern
Times:
On November 8, 1912, the island was liberated
by the Admiral P. Koundouriotis who came with
a squadron of the Greek fleet led by the
battle ship
Averof
. In 1922 a large number of refugees from Asia
Minor came to Lesvos. In 1923, after the
signing ot the treaty of Lausanne, it was
definitively ceded to Greece. During World War
II the Germans came to Lesvos on May 4 1941
and left on September 10, 1944. |
