Panagiouda (, ''Panagioúda'') is a village on the east coast 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 of

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 ...

. As of 2011, Panagiouda had 906 inhabitants which were primarily

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

History

The settlement was founded after an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

in 1867 forced many people from Afalonas to abandon their town and start anew. The first forty houses were constructed in 1874. Kalamiaris, at the north of Panagiouda, is the birthplace of

Odysseas Elytis Odysseas Elytis (; , pen name of Odysseas Alepoudelis, ; 2 November 1911 – 18 March 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as the definitive exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. He is one ...

. There is also the magnificent Panayoudha palm forest, which consists of

Phoenix canariensis ''Phoenix canariensis'', the Canary Island date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Northwestern Africa. It is a relative of ''Phoenix dactylifera'', the true date pal ...

palms, and three flour tower houses of the early 20th century. After the destruction of Minor Asia in 1924, 100 people immigrated to Panagiouda.

Etymology

The name of the village comes from the Holy Virgin (''Panayia'') church there. It means "Small Holy Virgin". The church had been constructed by the great local architect Arghiris Adhalis in 1896 and is dedicated to the Holy Virgin's birthday.

Travel

Mytilene National Airport is 12km (7.5 miles) from Panagiouda.

References

{{Mytilene div Populated places in Lesbos