Lychna () is a village and a community in the island of

Lemnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...

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 ...

. The community includes the village Anemoessa. It is part of the municipal unit of

Moudros Moudros () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula of t ...

. It is situated at about one kilometer from the swampy shore of the bay of Moudros, at 10 m elevation. It is 1.5 km south of Varos, 2 km northwest of Romanou, 4 km north of Moudros and 18 km east of Myrina.

Population

Name

According to tradition, its name (meaning "lights") is derived from the small lamps of the houses, that were visible at night to sailors on the bay. It can't be excluded that there was some sort of lighthouse, from which the name could be derived. On the English Admiralty charts a small cape named ''Akra Likhna'' was indicated. The village was first mentioned in 1785 by the French traveller Choiseul-Gouffier. On his map the name was marked including the article "ta": ''Taligna'' (τα Λύχνα ''ta Lychna''), and the nearby cape was marked as Cap Blanc. The same error was made by the travellers Conze (1850, ''Talihna'') and De Launay (1898, ''Talikna''). In 1904 Friedrich correctly mentioned it as ''Lychna''.

History

In the 19th century, it was an organised village that was mentioned in public documents. In 1856, there were 71 men between 18 and 60, who paid 2,272

piastre The piastre or piaster () is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venetian traders in the Le ...

s to avoid subscription. In 1874, there were 50 Christian families, and there were 67 houses. Its residents were farmers and pastoralists, and many worked in

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

as builders and artisans. Outside the village, near the cemetery, there is a spring from which the village obtained its water. Near this spring there was a French military camp during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1912, Lychna became an independent community. In the interwar period, the village saw some growth, and it had 318 inhabitants in 1928. 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 ...

, due to the emigration, its population declined, to 120 inhabitants in 1981. Many of its inhabitants moved to Athens. In 1991, the communities of Lychna and Anemoessa were united.

Points of interest

In 1865, the church of Saint Demetrius was built. In 1924, an impressive external

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

with carved stonework was added. Two carved columns with elaborately carved capitals came from an older church. The church was decorated by Grigorios Papamalis in 1940. Due to its small population, the village never had a community school. Its children attended schools in the nearby villages Romanou and Varos. In 1910, a beautiful school was built in a prominent spot at the expense of Dimitrios G. Makris, a businessman in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He also restored the village aqueduct.

References

{{Moudros Populated places in Lemnos

Population

Name

History

Points of interest

See also

References