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Modern Description: The appearance of the island from the sea before arriving at the principal town and harbour of Mýrina leaves no doubt as to its volcanic origins. The empty mountains of its west coast seem more dramatic than their modest height merits because they possess the torn and rugged forms of recent volcanic formation. Mýrina itself is situated between two fine bays, and hides behind the massive bulwark of a rock peninsular on its seaward side, crowned by the impressive curtain walls of its castle. The town is small, lively, and architecturally dignified. There is a pleasing mixture of Ottoman and Neoclassical buildings – some Thracian-style timbered houses with sachnisia (projecting upper floors with wooden frames) and a preponderance of stone mansions of the period from 1880 to 1930 with symmetrical façades comprising stone window- and door- frames and decorative entablatures, especially along the sweep of Roméikos Beach to the north.
At the beginning of the long curving main street (Kyda St.) of the old quarter of Myrina, which begins at the corner of the inner harbour, are two vestiges from the Ottoman past: at the end of an alleyway just north of the Hotel Aktaion is an abandoned octagonal, 18th century türbe or mausoleum, and at the corner of the first block on Kyda Street is a fountain of excellent spring water, still bearing its original Osmanli inscription of 1771 carved in white marble and framed by the local, magenta-grey volcanic stone.
From the corner of the harbour, Themistokleous and Nefelis Streets lead up to a panoramic saddle below the Castle which occupies a natural fortress of rock to the west. (Unrestricted access.) As you climb up, the massive irregular stone blocks of the Archaic acropolis walls (6th century BC) are visible high up to the left amongst the volcanic folds and protrusions of the rock; they appear again at the highest level of the north face underneath the later, Venetian walls: the impregnability and visibility of the site has been appreciated since early antiquity. Rock-cut channels can be seen in the vicinity of these early fortifications for ducting and collecting rain water. Although the inner fortress on the summit was probably erected over Byzantine foundations by the Venetians in the early 13th century, the majority of the fortifications visible today were built by the Genoese and Venetians in the 15th century, and later modified and added to by the Turks (especially on the north side and in the eastern artillery emplacements). In 1273 the forces of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos took three years to siege and capture the castle from the Venetian Navigajoso overlords. Today, wild deer are permitted to graze in the interior, giving life to an otherwise abandoned area.
In the middle of the rough path leading up to the gateway of the Venetian enceinte is a finely-turned, ancient column base in Thasian marble. Entrance to the fortress is through three successive gates with monolithic door-posts, set in a treacherous defile between walls; between the first and last gate an intruder was effectively trapped in a blind, zig-zag chasm of walls. The two roofless buildings ahead as you emerge from the gates are Ottoman constructions: the administrative building and barracks to the right and, slightly above it, the mosque. Stairs for the minaret can be seen on the north side of the latter, and the indented mihrab (which does not protrude externally like a Christian apse) in its southeast wall.
To the south side, the castle avails itself of a deep, natural, rock ditch for protection, while on the gentler north slope there are three – and, in places, four – curtain walls, the lowest (Ottoman) fortifications being almost at the level of the shore. At the highest point of the enclosed area is the inner keep; near where a couple of pieces of ancient marble have been immured, there are signs that the natural rock has been cut into a terrace in antiquity. This could possibly relate to one of the two sanctuaries of Artemis attested in inscriptions – the one referred to as “in Myrina”. A further area of interest lies on the lower western face of the hill, where there is a complex of storage buildings for water and supplies. The large roofed cistern building here in a walled enclosure is probably of Venetian origin, but substantially reworked in Ottoman times. The slight talus of the walls for reinforcement below the external string-course of the cistern house and the proliferation of vegetation within the enclosure confirm its use for water storage. Inside, a small antechamber precedes the main interior where the pool in the floor, now filled in, is surrounded by a rectangular border of flagstones. The large vaulted magazines to the side are structures raised by the Venetians; the flight of steps – a couple of which are faced with inscribed Ottoman gravestones laid flat – cut into the rock date from the Second World War and lead into an underground gallery enlarged in the same period. Directly below at the shore in the northwestern corner, a natural cleft in the rocks has created a small, hidden ‘harbour' with space for one boat: the sides of the rock-face show roughly cut loop-holes for the mooring ropes.
On the other side of the shoreline road from the museum is a white marble monument to the memory of the Russian naval commanders, Count Alexei Orloff and Dimitry Seniavin, whose squadrons called at Lemnos during the Russian-Turkish wars of 1770 and 1807, giving support during the struggles against Ottoman dominion. Two hundred metres further north along the shore, opposite and inland of the promontory (now occupied by the Officers' Club building) which separates the ‘Roméikos' and ‘Richá Nerá' beaches is a large area of recent and well-documented excavations revealing the site of Prehistoric Myrina.
Although evidence is coming to light of other, smaller prehistoric settlements on the island, Poliochni in the East and Myrina in the west are the two principal poles of habitation in Bronze Age Lemnos. Both are exceptionally early, large-scale, proto-urban settlements which evolved contemporaneously. By comparison with Poliochni, Myrina has yielded markedly less from the 4th and early 3rd millennia BC, but appears to have flourished more extensively and become a larger settlement in the late 3rd millennium BC, with larger and marginally more sophisticated building designs. A large area has been uncovered and painstakingly consolidated by the archaeologists revealing the stone foundations of a closely packed conurbation of houses, organised in (kinship) groups and neighbourhoods. What is immediately striking is the multitude of different colours of stones used which, given that the walls may not have been rendered, would have imparted life and distinction to them. The spaces between houses were narrow, although endowed with the elements for drainage. The houses themselves were roofed with seaweed packed with mud over wooden rafters; a few may have had improvised storage lofts (House B). Some of the houses are ‘semi-detached', with a single construction comprising several dwellings with separated entrances. The intercommunicating, windowless rooms of the interior appear to have been surprisingly un-cramped. Although two large areas have been excavated they represent only a small part of the whole settlement which would have begun on the raised promontory now occupied by the Officers' Club and subsequently spread down into the surrounding area. The houses appear to have been shaken down by earthquakes more than once and rebuilt over the ruins of the previous phase.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrina,_Greece
Wikidata ID: Q2310605
Trismegistos Geo: 1405

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)

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