Tradition
The harbor of Mytilene
banks of the Voulgaris River, at a detour off the rural Kalloni-Antissa road just before you reach Antissa. It is a women’s convent dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin, and has fallen into disuse in recent years. In the past (at least from the 16th to the end of the 18th century) it was part of the men’s Monastery of Taxiarches Kreokopou, located one hour away at the summit of Mt. Chalakas. The convent’s cathedral is a traditional wooden-roofed basilica of small proportions and has noteworthy frescos dating from the 16th century.
Architecture on the Island
Lesvos has several distinct types of buildings: Stone farmhouses with terracotta roof-tiles and a chimney. Stone two- or three-story townhouses with tile roofs and a sachnisini (small balcony) usually wooden, constructed in the bagdanti technique. Chateaux or castles of the prosperous social class, which were the country homes or lodgings during the olive harvest.
The mansions of the urban class, built in Provincial, Bavarian and neoclassical styles, are excellent examples of the eclectic architecture that dominated the city in the last century. These houses had attics, marble ornamentation, sachnisinia (balconies) and glassed in porches, elaborate gardens, marble staircases, painted ceilings, stone tiles, septic tanks, cast iron railings and cantilevers, ornate ironwork, and even statuary. These buildings were designed and built by the architects Argyris Adalis and Ignatius Vafeiadis (students of Ziller) and can be found both in the city (Kioski, Sourada) and in numerous villages (Molyvos, Petra, Moria, Plomari, and elsewhere). The island’s temperament is reflected in its flamboyant architectural traditions. The glamorous mansions of the previous century coexist harmoniously with the traditional vernacular settlements, the castles of the Ottoman occupation, the neoclassical and modern buildings as well as the recently built contemporary villas. Most of these grand houses were the country residences of the island’s wealthy towns-
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