Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

LESBOS (Mytilene, Turk. Midullu)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 489 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

LESBOS (Mytilene, Turk. Midullu) , an See also:island in the See also:Aegean See also:sea, off the See also:coast of See also:Mysia, N. of the entrance of the Gulf of See also:Smyrna, forming the See also:main See also:part of a sanjak in the See also:archipelago vilayet of See also:European See also:Turkey. It is divided into three districts, Mytilene or Kastro in the E., Molyvo in the N., and Calloni in the W. Since the See also:middle ages it has been known as Mytilene, from the name of its See also:principal See also:town. See also:Strabo estimated the circumnference of the island at iloo stadia, or about 138 m., and Scylax reckoned it seventh in See also:size of the islands of the Mediterranean. The width of the channel between it and the mainland varies from 7 to 10 M. The island is roughly triangular in shape; the three points are Argennum on the N.E., Sigrium (Sigri) on the W., and Malea (Maria) on the S.E. The Euripus Pyrrhaeus (Calloni) is a deep gulf on the See also:west between Sigrium and 1Vlalea. The See also:country though mountainous is very fertile, Lesbos being celebrated in See also:ancient times for its See also:wine, oil and See also:grain. See also:Homer refers to its See also:wealth. Its See also:chief produce now is See also:olives, which also See also:form its principal export. See also:Soap, skins and valonea are also exported, and mules and See also:cattle are extensively bred.

The sardine See also:

fishery is an important See also:trade, and See also:antimony, See also:marble and See also:coal are found on the island. The See also:surface is rugged and mountainous, the highest point, See also:Mount See also:Olympus (Hagios See also:Elias) being 3080 ft. The island has suffered from periodical earthquakes. The roads were remade in 1889, and there is telegraphic communication on the island, and to the mainland by See also:cable. The ports are Sigri and Mytilene. The Gulf of Calloni and Hiera or Olivieri can only be entered by vessels of small See also:draught. The chief town, called Mytilene, is built in See also:amphitheatre shape See also:round a small See also:hill crowned by remains of an ancient fortress. There are now 14 mosques and 7 churches, including a See also:cathedral. It was originally built on an island See also:close to the eastern coast of Lesbos, and afterwards when the town became too large for the island, it was joined to Lesbos by a See also:causeway, and the See also:city spread along the coast. There was a See also:harbour on each See also:side of the small island. Maloeis, by some surmised to be the See also:northern of these, was not far away. Besides the five cities which gave the island the name of Pentapolis (Mytilene, Methymna, Antissa, Eresus, Pyrrha), there was a town called Arisba, destroyed by an See also:earth-quake in the See also:time of See also:Herodotus.

See also:

Professor Conze thinks that this is the site now called Palaikastro, N.E. of Calloni. Pyrrha See also:lay S.E. of Calloni, and is now also called Palaikastro. Antissa was on the N. coast near Sigri. It was destroyed by the See also:Romans in 168 B.C. Eresus was also near Sigri on the S. coast. Methymna was on the N. coast, on the site of Molyvo, still the second city of the island. The name Methymna is derived from the wine (Gr. pfOv) for which it was famous. Considerable remains of town walls and other buildings are to be seen on all these sites. (E. GR.) their See also:administration Mytilene passed in 1462 under See also:Turkish See also:control, and has since had an uneventful See also:history. The See also:present See also:population is about 130,000 of whom 13,000 are See also:Turks and Moslems and 117,000 Greeks. See Strabo xiii. pp.

617-619; Herodotus ii. 178, Hi. 39, vi. 8, 14; See also:

Thucydides iii. 2-50; See also:Xenophon, Hellenica, i., ii.; S. Plehn, Lesbiacorum See also:Liber (See also:Berlin, 1828) ; C. T. See also:Newton, Travels and Discoveries in the See also:Levant (See also:London, 1865) ; B. V. See also:Head, Historia Numorum (See also:Oxford, 1887), pp. 487-488; E. L.

See also:

Hicks and G. F. Hill, See also:Greek See also:Historical See also:Inscriptions (Oxford, 1901), Nos. 61, 94, 101, 139, 164; Conz, Reise auf der Insel Lesbos (1865) ; Koldewey, Antike Baureste auf Lesbos (Berlin, 1890). (M. O. B.

End of Article: LESBOS (Mytilene, Turk. Midullu)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
LESBONAX 		[next]
LESCHES (Lescheos in Pausanias x. 25. 5)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries