Loutropoli Thermis () is a village and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

on the 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 ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality

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 ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located on the central east coast of the island. It has a land area of 79.468 km². Its population was 2,772 at the 2021 census. Loutrópoli Thermís was the seat of the municipality that comprises Loutrópoli Thermís, Pigi, Komi, Mistegna and

Nees Kydonies Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He des ...

. The largest towns are Loutrópoli Thermís, Mistegná, Nées Kydoníes, and Pigí.

History

The region of Thermi has a history going back five thousand years. The region takes its name from the

thermal springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by cir ...

located there for centuries. Archaeological finds indicate that during the

antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

, the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

was worshipped as protector of the curative springs. After archaeological excavations in the past years next to the beach, the layers and traces of five cities built one over the other were revealed, the oldest of which dates back to the middle of the 3rd millennium. The magnificence and the radiance of the religious and therapeutic centre of Thermi is also testified by numerous archaeological finds, including the foundations of buildings and inscriptions. Some of these

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

are exhibited at the outdoor archaeological site of Horafa. At the beginning of the 20th century, the region of Thermi was popular for its luxurious

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

, Sarlitza Palace, which was built on the plans of

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architects. For about thirty years, it received great recognition, attracting visitors and celebrities from all over the world. Today it is in decline and only the hot baths are operational.

References

{{Mytilene div Populated places in Lesbos Spa towns in Greece