welcome to the island of Limnos – GREECE
Limnos with one of the prettiest harbours in Greece, beautiful beaches and picturesque, traditional villages untouched by modern-day tourism, hardly fits with any Greek Island stereotypes. It lies low with gently rolling hills, a lush green carpet in the spring that becomes cracling yellow-brown in the summer. The landscape is dotted with fields of grain, quirky scarerows and beehives. Limnos was famous since antiquity for its vineyiards, Aristotle wrote about the traditional red wine of the island, produced from a very ancient and unique variety of grape that he called Limnio (locally referred as Kalambaki). Limnos is a very green and lush island, it has blessed its people with fertile soil where they grow olives, fruit and wheat, breed animals and make honey of the many flowers that covers Limnos. In general, the islanders here are quite traditional, which means they still hold hospitality as something almost sacred, and have kept many old customs. For holidaymakers, Limnos offers nice beaches and lot of things to see. Limnos island is a popular summer resort for both Greeks and foreigners but has kept its genuine atmosphere.
According to greek mythology, the goddess Hera got very angry with her son Hephaestus one day, and threw him off Mt. Olympus. He landed on Limnos, where he was taken care of by the people, making the island his special place. Although some myths refer to Sicily as his workshop, others hold that he worked on Limnos. What is certain, though, is that Hephaestus was the patron god of this island, and that at least one temple was built to his honour here
Above Myrina, Limno’s capital, towers the kastro. It was probably an acropolis in antiquity, but what we see today dates back to the Venetians. There is also an interesting archaeological museum in Myrina, with findings from around the island. In Myrina there is an archeological museum that is worth a visit as it houses many ancient relics and ceramics excavated from nearby Polyohni and dating from prehistoric times. As well as finds from Polyohni there are also relics from Myrina, Hephaestea and Kavirio.
Poliochni is also an ancient settlement that has been excavated on Limnos. Its people left in the middle of the 2nd Millennium BC, probably because of an earthquake. At Repanidi there ruins of a castle from the Byzantine era. The Church of Life-giving Source (Zoodochos Pigis) is important for those interested in history, since there is a statue here of the young girl called Maroula, and who fought the Turks on her own in the 15th century .Not far from Myrina is the large picturesque village of Kondias with its traditional island mansions. 28 km from Myrina is the village of Kaminia. Here you can see the ruins of the ancient settlement of Polyohni . Close to Kaminia is the village of Moudros which used to be the old capital of Limnos. Heading north-east from here is the village of Kondopouli where the two ancient settlements of Hephaestea and Kavirio can be seen. At Hephaestea are the ruins of an ancient settlement that you can visit. Even though the place was settled way before then, there are findings of temples and a Roman theatre here. Nearby is located the Temple of Kavirio which was probably used for religious ceremonies in ancient times. At the north-east tip of Limnos is the village of Plaka where you will find the spa at Agios Haralambos. At Skandali you can also visit the monastery of Agios Sozon.