Lemnos

Lemnos is unusual among Aegean islands for being largely flat and fertile, an agricultural place of wheat, vines and grazing rather than terraced slopes, with a coastline of long sandy beaches. Myrina, the capital, sits below one of the largest castles in the Aegean, a Byzantine and Venetian fortress on a rocky headland where deer wander among the walls, with the town's stone houses on either side. Inland, the Pachies Ammoudies near Katalakko form a genuine desert of shifting dunes, unexpected in Greece. The island's archaeology is significant: Poliochni on the east coast has been called one of the earliest urban settlements in Europe, older than Troy across the water, and the sanctuary of the Kabeiroi lies further north. Local products include Kalathaki cheese, flomari pasta and Muscat wine.

History

The oldest human settlement yet found in the Aegean islands was uncovered at Ouriakos on the coast of Fyssini by Greek, Italian and American archaeologists from June 2009, and at Poliochni a building with two rows of stepped seats from the Early Bronze Age may have served as a council house. In August and September 1926 the Italian School at Athens began excavating to learn about the island's pre-Greek civilisation after the discovery of the Lemnos stele, and a necropolis with iron weapons and no bronze was dated to the ninth or eighth century B.C. (Wikipedia, Lemnos).

What you'll find

• Myrina castle - a vast fortress above the town, with resident deer.
• Poliochni - an early Bronze Age town claimed as Europe's oldest.
• The sand dunes - a small desert of shifting sand near Katalakko.
• The beaches - long sandy stretches around the island's coast.

When to go

May, June and September for warm sea and open tavernas; the island is windy, which suits kitesurfers at Keros beach but tests everyone else. Winter is quiet with reduced links.

Good to know

Lemnos gets few international visitors and has limited tourist infrastructure, which is part of its appeal but means fewer options. Distances are real and a car is needed. Wind is a constant factor in summer.

Nearby

Agios Efstratios lies south by ferry; Kavala and Thessaloniki are the mainland connections.

Key facts