About this tour

We will visit the Museum of Maritime Traditions and Sponge Making of NeaKoutalis. The Museum is housed in an old community building, which was previously used as a community clinic. . The Museum is located in the central square of the village in NeaKoutali, Limnos. The Museum is located on the ground floor level, so there is no problem of accessibility for people with mobility problems. The same goes for the toilets.

We will visit the headquarters of the Limnos Naval Club which has an excellent tradition. A little further down is the archaeological site of the prehistoric settlement of Myrina which dates from the Late Neolithic II to the earliest phases of the Early Bronze Age..

We will have the possibility for lovers of sea sports to do surf diving with special equipment. It takes 15 minutes by speedboat from Diaporio Bay to the rocky island of Prasonisi. Divers adjust their buoyancy to the first shallow level of dry land at 6m. Then, having the morphology of the dry land on our right side, we start diving to a greater depth gradually. Our return is made through the canyon, starting to emerge gradually. On our return we meet several rockfish (cockroaches, snows, sardines, blacks, skarus, etc. )

In the continuation of our journey, we will visit a rare wetland, a special ecosystem. This wetland is home to rare species of birds, it is a special destination for nature lovers. we will see flamingos and ducks. Beautiful phoenixes dive down with their powerful beaks and search for food, possibly crabs and shrimps

Three areas in Lemnos are areas of passage and stay for migratory birds and another three are natural habitats: Hortarolimni, Aliki, and Diaporio wetland.

In Lake Aliki alone, 1,180 flamingos, 425 mallards, 350 barbarians, 130 whistlings, 11 shearwaters and 8 teal ducks were counted.

One of the rare birds and protected birds, which hibernates and breeds in Lemnos, is the brown goose. In the wetland of Diaporio, apart from the other birds, white storks were also found, something rare for an island.

The presence of flamingos in Lemnos and their large number are very important, considering that the total number of flamingos passing through Greece is 6,000 – 8,000. Over 1,000 flamingos, i.e. 1/6 of those who pass and stay in Greece, choose Lemnos every year to spend the winter.

Our accommodation will be in wheelchair friendly hotels

We will visit women’s agro-tourism cooperatives and see how local products are produced. We will have the opportunity to visit some wineries, we will learn how wine is produced and how it is combined with the local cuisine

Limnos attractions  

Archaeological Museum of Lemnos

The Archaeological Museum of Lemnos is located in Myrina. It presents the historical development of the island from the Chalcolithic period to the Roman period with findings from almost all the archaeological sites of the island

Ecclesiastical Museum of the Metropolis of Limnos

It is housed in the site of the Metropolis in Myrina. It collects works and relics of ecclesiastical tradition and art, Byzantine and post-Byzantine period.

Gallery of Contemporary Balkan Art Nearby

The Art Gallery of Kontias. Unique in Greece, it hosts works by great artists from Limnos, Greece and the Balkan countries.

Folklore Museum of Portiano

It includes exhibits from the daily life of the island’s inhabitants and more than 300 objects of folk art. It was founded in 1995 by the Portiana Association of Athens Lake – Piraeus and Surroundings.

Museum of Maritime Tradition and Limnos Spongemaking in NeaKoutali

The museum presents the maritime tradition of the refugees from Microasia. The equipment of the divers, scuba gear, tools and objects collected by the spongers from the depths of the sea are some of the interesting exhibits.

Archaeological Site of Poliochni

Poliochni is an archaeological site on the east coast of Lemnos, near the village of Kaminia, built at the dawn of the Neolithic period. It was one of the most important settlements in the Aegean area during the 3rd millennium BC. In the Early Bronze Age, it flourished so much that today it is considered the oldest city in Europe with an early form of social and urban organization.

Volcano Archaeological Site

Hefaistia was the largest and most ancient city of Lemnos that played an important role in the history of the island. The excavations by the Italian archaeologist Della Seta, brought to light a sanctuary dedicated to the Great Goddess Lemnos, necropolises, baths, a large building, wells, a theater of the Hellenistic period, several residences, a sanctuary and a large burnt necropolis. Many weapons, gold objects, clay figurines and pottery of local style were also found.

Archaeological Site of Prehistoric Myrina

The Sanctuary of Artemis was discovered in the area of ​​Avlona. Artemis, according to the historical sources, is remembered as the patroness of Myrina and was worshiped identified with the Moon.. The pottery workshop near the Hellenistic and Roman necropolis, the ruins of the walls, are some of the interesting remains of the Neolithic settlement located outside from the walls of the castle of Myrina.

Kaverio – Filoktitis Cave

The Kaveri were deities of ancient Greek mystery worship which first appeared in Lemnos. The Kaverian mysteries were the religious ceremonies performed in the Kaverian sanctuaries. In this sacred place they celebrated the fertility and the regeneration of nature with animal sacrifices to the gods, libations, prayers and offerings. The most important event was the porphyria festival where the discovery of fire came to life. On the coast of Kaveria is the cave of Philoctetes.

Hortarolimni – Aliki – Asprolimni

The wetlands of Hortarolimni, Aliki, the largest natural salt marsh in Greece and Asprolimni, are considered among the most important wetlands of our country and are included in the Natura 2000 network. All three together maintain an excellent ecosystem, in which over 4,000 species of birds winter , such as herons, avocets, kingfishers, coots, flamingos.

Sand dunes of Lemnos

Northwest of the island at a distance of 3 kilometers from the village of Katalakkos, a touch of the Sahara can be found in the heart of the North Aegean. The “Fat Sands”, as the locals call them, are an impressive phenomenon of sand dunes, covering an area of ​​70 acres.

Lemnos History

The island of Lemnos has a rich mythical tradition and history. Hephaistos had his workshop in Lemnos, who taught his inhabitants, the Sindians, the art of copper. Here reigned the son of Dionysus and Ariadne, Thoas, whose daughter Ypsipyli married Jason and traveled to Colchis with the Argonauts. The island flourished in the Prehistoric Era (Poliochni), while in Historical Times it was called Dipolis, because it had two strong cities, Myrina and Hfeistia.

Her name

The history of Lemnos unfolds since ancient times. Many and different opinions prevail about the origin of its name, which you witness indirectly in Mycenaean texts with the word “Lamniai”, i.e. “Lemnians”.

The word Lemnos according to one version (of the Phoenicianists) is Phoenician, meaning white, white, shining, perhaps derived from the image the island presents, especially in winter, where the edges of the foaming waves cover its shores with white the foam or maybe because it is low, without high mountains, only with hills, bare of trees giving the visitor who approaches it such a feeling.

Creation of Lemnos

Tens of millions of years ago the territory of the island formed the bottom of a large ocean, which extended to an area almost twice the size of the Mediterranean and has been named by scientists the Tethys sea. Lemnos emerged from the depths of the sea during the Alpine folding. Then the whole of Hellas emerged, creating the continent of Aegaida, which stretched from Asia Minor to the Ionian. Lemnos, on the contrary, shows a slow upward movement on its eastern side, the result of which is the gradual drying up of the two lakes, Hortarolimni and Aliki , which used to communicate with the sea.

The First Inhabitants of Lemnos

The first inhabitants of Lemnos, according to Homer, were the Sindians. Their settlement on the island dates back to the middle of the second millennium before Christ.

Prehistoric antiquity

The history of Lemnos begins in prehistoric antiquity. Archaeological excavations have brought to light findings that reveal 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 from the mist of mythological times until today. Lemnos was settled over the years by the Sindians. The archaeological dig revealed seven cities built one on top of the other, in successive historical phases from 4000 BC to 1500 BC with advanced civilization, as the findings reveal.

LAKE CUSTOMS 

IF you find yourself on the island in the summer, it is worth seeing the , kakanoures or kakaneria is the name of the custom with the fires that is revived every year in Lemnos, on June 23, the eve of the feast of Saint John.

Since ancient times, jumping over flames has been a way of purification. With the power of fire, the people, now freed from all evil, entered the new season clean and prosperous.

In the old days, the people of Lemni who were engaged in harvesting, performed this ritual with another purpose, to burn the fleas and bedbugs that they brought on themselves from the straw. As they jumped over the fire they said “Outside fleas and bedbugs inside the roga or the gold”.

HORSE RACING

IF you find yourself at Easter, it is worth going to the village of Kalliopi, on the day of the feast of Agios Georgios, the custom of horse racing is revived. The preparation lasts the whole year, with the riders of Kalliopi and the neighboring villages, breeding, training and preparing their horses with the aim of participating in the ancestral custom.

The race starts from the beach of Keros and ends at the square of the village of Kalliopi. During the race, the young riders honorably wear a red scarf around their neck. According to tradition, at the end of the race, the winner of the race heads to the church where the priest blesses the horse. Rider and horse go around the church 3 times and then go inside for the lucky rider to light a candle in honor of the Saint. The winner’s prize is a medal, which hangs on his horse.

The legend behind the custom says that while the Turks were celebrating their Ramadan in the mosque, they lost their horses. They had been stolen from them by the Kalliopites, who, having nowhere to hide them, took them to the beach of Keros, to the small church of Ai George. There they let them run in groups and thus the horse races in honor of the Saint were established. According to legend, those Turks who initially objected to the celebration were so tormented by the Saint that eventually, they not only stopped protesting but decided to participate in the games themselves. Thus, Greeks and Turks, on the day of the feast of St. George, organized horse races and competed in two teams. This very impressive custom is watched every year by a large number of visitors from every corner of the island.