Area of island: 1,630 sq. km/629 sq. miChief town:
MytilíniLésbos (popularly called Mytilíni; Turkish Midilli,
Italian Metellino), the third largest of the Greek islands
(after Crete and Euboea), lies in an angle formed by the
Anatolian coast, which is only 10km/6mi away on the north side
of the island and 15km/9mi away on the east side. An island of
great scenic beauty, Lésbos is also one of the most fertile
parts of Greece. It is broken up by the gulfs of Kalloní and
Iéra, which cut deep inland on the southwest and southeast sides
of the island. The island's proximity to the mainland of Asia
Minor was a major factor in the vicissitudes of its history.At
Thermí, 12km/7.5mi north of Mytilíni, excavation has brought to
light a pre-Greek settlement established about 2700 B.C. which
belonged to a cultural group embracing also the Troad and the
offshore islands as far away as Lemnos. Around 1000 B.C. Aeolian
Greeks from Thessaly arrived on the island and founded the
cities of Mytilene and Methymna, ruled by arist