MOLYVOS

Clinging to the slopes of a hill and crowned by its castle, it immediately captivates anyone seeing it for the first time. As you approach, the stone houses and the mansions with their projecting balconies and their multicolored window frames can be seen. You pass over a double bridge with the church of St. Ignatius and reach a turn-off to the town while to the right there is a road to the castle and the pebble beach and the well-known thermal spings of Eftalou.

Down at the sea, the harbor of Molyvos is ringed by the surroundings shops, the Turkish fountain and the Harbor-Master’s building, while there is still an active boatyard at one end of the harbor. The old olive press building, now transformed into a hotel, is beautiful.

There are many streets going uphill from the harbor, with lanes to the village market, higher up on the slopes. There, the large stoa with the mosque above it concentrates a great deal of traffic with its shops and traditional cafes. Numerous Turkish fountains of red and brown trachyte lend yet another dash of color making it even more redolent of days of old.

The Town Hall of Mithymna houses is an important archaeological collection, which is open to the public and contains exhibits from ancient times to the Roman period. There are also noteworthy collections at the Municipal Gallery and the Public Library.

The churches of the town are also quite interesting; the Taxiarchis (Archangel) built in 1795, Agia Kyriaki and Agios Panteleimon, all of which have special neoclassical architectural features. Also of importance are the ruins of ancient Mithymna which have survived down to the present, especially the polygonal walls from the 8^thcentury B.C. and the ancient temple. The castle, which commands the region from on high, was built during the Byzantine period and reinforced by Francesco Gattelusi.

It is the best preserved fortress on Lesvos and today has been fashioned into a space for cultural events with a theater stand and pit in its interior. It is definitely worth a walk through its three gates and along its ramparts for the enchanting view alone and for the unique Aegean sunsets.

Molyvos attracts more tourists than anywhere else on the island, but it’s still relatively quite compared to other destinations in Greece.

Thermal Springs in Eftalou

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