Mytilene, the capital. It is one of the oldest cities in Greece, perhaps in the whole world, inhabited on the same soil for thousands of years.
Its foundation was originally placed on the island, where the Castle is located, by the pseudo-Herodotus in his work “Life of Homer” 130 years after the fall of Troy, ie in 1053 BC, if the fall took place in 1183, as supported. Its great prosperity occurred in the 7th-6th century with Pittakos, Alkaios and Sappho.
It took its name from Mytilene, one of the daughters of Makaros, the first settler of Lesvos.
The current form of the Municipality came from the unification of Mytilene with the picturesque communities of Loutra, Taxiarches, Panagiouda, Moria, Alyfanta, Afalona, Pamfilon and Agia Marina overgrown with olive groves and with a wonderful view to the sea. It is 188 miles from Piraeus and has 25.00 inhabitants.
Mytilene is the seat of the Ministry of the Aegean, the North Aegean Region and the Rector’s Office of the University of the Aegean.
From the impressive preserved neoclassical buildings of Mytilene and its hot baths, to the historical monuments and the unique worldwide mosaics of Menander’s house that are on display today at the New Archaeological Museum of Mytilene, the current Municipality, continuation of the ancient Mastiki identity and creates the infrastructure of a modern city for the 3rd millennium. The Municipality of Mytilene aspires and plans to marry the historic city with its future needs.
The city is built on 7 hills, with main areas the Kiosk, the central complex of the old quarters and the western quarters that are ever expanding. Kioski, the old aristocratic district of Mytilene which now houses the new Archaeological Museum of Mytilene, is located a short distance from the Venetian castle, in the area that was in ancient times isolated by the canal of Euripus, which had several bridges along its length. .