Lemnos, the island of Hephaestus
The history of Lemnos begins in prehistoric antiquity. Archaeological excavations have brought to light findings that show the existence of an early civilization on the island from the fourth millennium BC.

The position of the island in the center of the North Aegean opposite the Dardanelles Straits determined its historical course. Lemnos was settled over the years by the Sindians, the wild-speaking people, as Homer calls them, (Odyssey, raps.i, f.294) the Carians, the Cretans, the Minyas and the Pelasgians. Historians confirm that Lemnos has been inhabited since the Middle Neolithic era. Neolithic settlements such as Hefaistia, Axia, Komi etc. have been found all over the island.

The name Lemnos according to the prevailing version means "White" and is probably of Phoenician origin.

Image: 16th century map.

Lemnos the White
The ancient Greeks considered it as the sacred island of Hephaestus, the god of fire and metallurgy. According to mythology, the god Hephaestus took refuge there, when Zeus expelled him from Olympus. Recent research confirms the early development of metallurgy in Lemnos and suggests its spread to the South Aegean by Lemnian artisans. The origin of the first inhabitants of the 'wild-speaking Sindians' from Thrace or Phrygia is disputed, but it is considered certain that they were the first to make bronze weapons with metals from Asia Minor.

Image 2: Jason and Hypsipyli. Fresco by the Lemnian painter Gr. Papamalis (1912).

Ancient Greek mythology presents as the first king of Lemnos Thoantas, son of Dionysus and Ariadne, who received the island as a gift from the king of Crete. The arrival on the island of Mynias from Thessaly is indicated by the marriage of Jason, leader of the Argonauts, with the daughter of Thoanos, Hypsipyli, while Herodotus mentions the fight against the Pelasgians of Attica, who were called Tyrrhenians, in Lemnos and on the opposite shores of M. Asia.

Prehistoric Lemnos
The most important prehistoric settlement of the island is Poliochni, founded in the 4th millennium BC. and developed into a fortified state - perhaps the oldest in Europe - with an urban structure and an important culture, with the first Democratic parliament.

Image: Aerial view of Poliochni

Lemnos the Amichthaloessa
During the time of the Trojan war, in the 12th - 13th century the island was inhabited by the Minyas with Evinos as king and Myrina as their capital. Homer in his Iliad mentions several times that the Achaeans traded with the inhabitants of Lemnos of "amichthaloessa" (Homer's Iliad, rabs. Oh, f.753).

Lemnos, like neighboring Samothraki, is connected to the worship of the Kaveri, the children of Hephaestus. In the north-east of Lemnos, the ruins of the ancient city of Hephaestia have come to light with excavations, with the main find being the ancient theater of the city.

The religion of the Limnians is focused on the worship of Hephaestus, the god of fire and metallurgy, and the Kaveri who were worshiped as gods of the sea, fertility and the vine. The discovery of fire by the first inhabitants of the island was revived every year with the ceremony of Pyrphoria, which included the extinguishing of every fire on the island for nine days, until the ship brought the sacred flame from Delos.

Lemnos or Dipolis
In the classical years Lemnos was conquered by the Persians (512 BC) but in 510 BC fell into the hands of the Athenians. With the merging of the inhabitants with the Athenians after a second Persian occupation (493-479 BC), they brought to the island a parliament and political activities similar to those of the Athenians. At that time Lemnos was called Dipolis, because two large cities flourished on the island, Myrina and Hefaistia.

The hegemony of the Athenians, who colonized the island in 440 BC. settling 'priests', who seem to have lived peacefully with the Lemnians in the two big cities of Hephaestia and Myrina. Since then Lemnos is considered Athenian territory.

The close ties with Athens last until the 2nd AD. century. Lemnos then comes under the control of each sovereign of Greece: the Macedonians, the Romans and the Byzantines.

After a peaceful period that the island experienced with its conquest by the Romans (166 BC), it passed to the Byzantines who used the island as a shipyard, where they built and maintained ships for their fleet.

Turkish rule
Byzantine rule was interrupted several times by the Saracens, the Venetians, and the Genoese. The inhabitants of Lemnos strongly resisted the attacks of the Turks, culminating in the Battle of Kotsina and the heroic deeds of Maroula in 1475, as a result of which they were never conquered by the Turks, to whom the island was finally ceded by the Venetians in 1479.

During the period of the Turkish occupation, the island went into decline. In 1770, after the failure of the Russian troops to take over the island, and the anger shown by the Turks forced many residents to leave. The revolution of 1821 finds many Limnios fighting for the liberation of the country, offering ships and personal fight, but the island itself due to its location near the City, does not revolt.

Liberation from the Turkish yoke came on October 8, 1912 by the Greek fleet led by Admiral Kountouriotis who created a naval station on the island to control the Straits.

The gulf of Moudros will be the safe base of the allied forces for the Gallipoli campaign and thousands of victims of the bloody failure will be buried in Lemnos.

Post- war Lemnos
During World War I Lemnos became an English base and Moudros Bay became a naval base for the English fleet.

On October 31, 1918, in Mudros, a treaty of tolerance was agreed between the Allied forces and Turkey, which essentially marked the end of the bloody war.

The Second World War brought the German occupation to Lemnos until October 16, 1944. After the civil war, Lemnos became a place of exile and the miserable living conditions on the island caused mass migration both to the interior of the country and to the outside, mainly to Australia, USA South Africa and Canada.

Image: Windmills in Varos