Lemnos is a volcanic, flat, golden island in the northern Aegean, between Mount Athos and the Dardanelles. In myth Zeus hurled his son Hephaestus from Olympus; he fell on Lemnos and set up his forge there, and the island became sacred to him. The Argonauts also stopped here, welcomed by the women of Lemnos, and here the archer Philoctetes was abandoned on the way to Troy.
What to see
| Place | Why |
|---|---|
| Myrina | The main town, with a large Byzantine-Venetian castle on a headland and the archaeological museum; at sunset Mount Athos can be seen |
| Poliochni | Bronze Age settlement, one of the oldest urban sites in Europe, excavated by the Italian Archaeological School of Athens |
| Hephaistia and Kabeirion | A city dedicated to Hephaestus and the sanctuary of the Cabeiri mysteries |
| Gomati dunes | The "desert" of Lemnos, sand dunes near the sea in the north |
| Moudros bay | Allied naval base in the Gallipoli campaign (1915), with Commonwealth war cemeteries |
Beaches: Plati, Thanos, Keros (loved by kitesurfers), Gomati and Avlonas. The island produces wines, cheeses such as kalathaki, and honey.
Getting there
The airport has flights from Athens and Thessaloniki. Ferries from Lavrio and Kavala, with links to Lesbos and Agios Efstratios.
See also Agios Efstratios and Hephaestus.