Molyvos

Molyvos, formally Mithymna, rises in tiers of grey and ochre stone houses to a Byzantine castle rebuilt by the Genoese Gattilusi family in the fourteenth century, one of the best-preserved fortresses in the eastern Aegean, whose walls give a view along the coast and across the strait to Anatolia. The lanes below are stepped and vine-covered, with a market street of workshops, and the harbour at the foot of the town is lined with fish tavernas. The town is protected as a traditional settlement, which has kept out concrete and neon. Nearby are the thermal baths at Eftalou on the shore, a long pebble beach, and the road west to Petra, whose church of Panagia Glykofilousa stands on a rock reached by 114 steps.

History

As Methymna the town was once the prosperous second city of Lesbos, named in myth after a daughter of Macar, and epic tradition tells of Achilles besieging it in the Trojan War. The tale of Arion and the dolphin, set around the turn of the 7th century BCE, suggests it was already a prominent city then; it was a long rival of Mytilene, and in the Peloponnesian War it alone sided with Athens in the Mytilenaean revolt of 428 BCE, so that when the revolt was crushed the next year only Methymna kept its land (Wikipedia, Mithymna).

What's there

• The Genoese castle - a well-preserved fortress above the town.
• The stepped lanes - vine-shaded streets of stone houses and workshops.
• The harbour - a small fishing port with tavernas along the quay.
• Eftalou baths - thermal water in a domed bathhouse on the shore.

When to go

Spring and autumn for walking the town and the coast; summer is hot and busiest in August. The castle hosts occasional summer performances.

Good to know

The lanes are steep and cobbled, and cars are excluded from most of the town, so parking is at the edges. Beaches nearby are pebble. Some businesses close outside the season, and the island as a whole sees fewer visitors than it once did.

Nearby

Petra and its rock church are five kilometres west; Skala Sykamineas and the north coast lie east.