The Castle of Mytilene, also Fortress of Mytilene, is located in

Mytilene Mytilene (; ) is the capital city, capital of the Greece, Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of the Aegean. It was fo ...

on the Greek island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

North Aegean The North Aegean Region (, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, and the smallest of the thirteen by population. It comprises the islands of the north-eastern Aegean Sea, called the North Aegean islands, except for Thasos an ...

. It is maintained in good condition and is one of the largest castles in the Mediterranean covering an area of 60 acres. The first castle on the site may have been erected during the time of

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(ruled 527–565). The 6th-century castle may have been built on top of an already existent fortress. In the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

, the castle was the residence of Francesco I Gattilusio and his successors, especially the tower known today as the Queen's Tower. There is also strong evidence that the original

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

on the site may have included a sanctuary to

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...

, Kore and

Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya, Kubeleya'' "Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian: ''Kuvava''; ''Kybélē'', ''Kybēbē'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forerunner in the earliest ...

Geography

The

castle fortress sits on a hill between the city’s northern and southern ports. From the writing of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, the island of Lesbos has been an organized city since 1054 BC. The early harbor of Mytilene was united during ancient times with a channel 700 meters long and 30 meters wide. The Greek word Εύριπος or Euripus is a commonly used term when referring to a strait. The strait allowed ancient 3 rower or more sail boats called

Trireme A trireme ( ; ; cf. ) was an ancient navies and vessels, ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean Sea, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greece, ancient Greeks and ancient R ...

. The boats that passed were 34 meters and had depth of 4 meters. The castle at this point was east of the island. Castle island was inhabited by people. The areas of the city that were densely populated connected the two bodies of land with marble bridges, one of which can still be seen under a modern building. They usually followed a curved line. The straight begin at the old market called Epano Skala. It was also close to Metropolis Street and ended at the Southern Harbor. One could argue that the channel transversed what is now called Ermoo Street. By the 16th century, if not earlier, the channel was filled in.

History of the castle

The original nucleus of the fortress, designed in Byzantine times, is believed to have been built on top of the ancient

. According to an old text found in the language Aeolic of Lesbos. Mytilene was spelled in many different styles two such examples were Mytileanaean and as referenced by

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

Maloeis, which was a harbor in Lesbos. According to the same text a Temple of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

existed in Maloeis as we learn from

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

. Temples usually were erected at the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

. A Temple of Apollo may have existed within the Castle infrastructure. Another Case was made by Susan-Marie Cronkite in her Doctoral thesis that a Sanctuary of

may have rested at the Acropolis throughout Mytilene's history. The city flourished and was in League with the King of Macedon, Lesbos joined a revolt against Rome in the

Mithridatic Wars The Mithridatic Wars were three conflicts fought by the Roman Republic against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus during the course of the wars, who initiated the ho ...

and in 88 BC the Romans destroyed Mytilene and the Temple of Mytilene assumed Apollo's Temple. They extended domination over the whole island.

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

later gave Mytilene autonomy, which Emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

revoked in 70 AD but Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

Later restored. Theophanes of Mytilene lived in the 1st century, he was a historian and intellectual who was friends with

according to

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

he granted freedoms to

for Theophanes sake. According to excavations both in the Castle of Mytilene and elsewhere in the town archeologists have uncovered a variety bronze coins Commemorating Theophanes portrait.
, Roman Period The first significant alterations to the fortress were made by Francesco I Gattilusio in 1373. The castle was Siege of Mytilene (1462), bombarded and captured by the Ottomans in 1462. In 1501, Sultan

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

repaired the damage suffered by the Castle during the

Ottoman–Venetian War (1499–1503) The Second Ottoman–Venetian War was fought from 1499 to 1503 between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice for control of contested lands in the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the Adriatic Sea. The Ottomans, under the command of Admir ...

, and built two large round towers with cannon and developed new walls. New construction to modernize the castle was undertaken in 1643-1644 by Bekir Pasha, in the days of Sultan Ibrahim Khan, perhaps in view of the Cretan War (1645–69) or because of destruction by earthquake. They carried out repairs to the walls, erecting a new wall in front of the existing medieval wall. In front of these new structures a deep wide moat was created. Other changes and additions followed, the most important of which was made in 1677 by the Ottomans. The lower north sections of the fortifications were added. The Ancient Theatre of Mytilene was used for construction materials. In 1756 Admiral Kuramadji added a polygonal tower near the harbor of Epano Skala. During the 19th century the function and character of the castle changed. The castle exhibited a more military character, as indicated by the barracks built near the

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

and the neighboring gunpowder vault. Its walls, however, were not thick or strong enough to withstand attack by cannons, especially from the seaward side. The island was captured by Greece during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

, on November 8, 1912. After 1912 the castle was used as a source of building material to construct refugee housing which gradually brought about its ruin. The intramural segment continued to be inhabited until shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The locals also established brothels (closed since the 1980s) in the Lower Castle. The castle is currently used for local festivals in the summer and tourist tours it is declared a historical site. ΤΟΥΡΙΣΤΙΚΟΣ ΟΔΗΓΟΣ ΛΕΣΒΟΥ

Architecture

From a morphological perspective, the castle is divided into three sections: * The Acropolis or Upper Castle lies in the north and is the highest point of the hill, there is a Thesmophorion and the Castle of Francesco I Gattilusio * The Middle Castle, mostly built by Francesco I Gattilusio but was modified by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. * The Lower Castle on the northwest side was added by the

in 1644, the lower portion has a

Turkish bath A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

In the Upper Castle, Francesco Gattilusio's additions included square stone tower, decorated with the family coats of arms of the Gattilusi and the

Palaiologoi The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; , ; female version Palaiologina; ), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek noble family that rose to power and produced the last and longest-ruling d ...

. It was also known as the Queen’s Tower. The middle Castle was changed by Francesco I Gattilusio. During the Ottoman period there were several additions, including Kulé Mosque; an Ottoman Seminary; Tekke Islamic Monastery, the Madrasa, an imaret, a bath-house, the gunpowder store,

Cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

, and a Fountain which survive to the present day. The

also added the Orta Kapu (Ottoman gate). The interior of the fortress is being excavated by the Canadian Archaeological Institute, which has unearthed buildings from the Archaic and Classical periods as well as remains dating from medieval times. In 2000, reconstruction began on the Orta Kapi (west-central gate) and the Cistern, and restoration is currently underway on the monument’s interior. In recent years, a space was created inside the fortress to host summer cultural events.
Ministry of Culture Mytilene Castle

Gallery

File:Η πόλη της Μυτιλήνης μέσα από το κάστρο.jpg, View from the castle File:Fortress of Mytilini, Lesvos 2.jpg, Castle of Mytilene File:Castle of Mytilene 25.JPG, Interior File:Kastro Mytilinis (13).jpg, Castle of Mytilene File:Kastro Mytilinis (19).jpg, Walls

External links

Castle Diagram

References

{{Castles in Greece Buildings and structures in Lesbos Byzantine fortifications in Greece

Buildings and structures in Mytilene Byzantine castles in Greece Crusader castles Ottoman fortifications in Greece