New Arrivals

We’re once again sitting in a Greek inner harbour, seemingly at the centre of Greek small town life. This harbour is almost circular, with a ring road that circles the circumference. Boys shout their testosterone to the world on big loud motorbikes, drag racing around the promenade, helmets clutched in hand. Its Labour Day, 1^st May and we’re in Mitilini, capital of Lesvos.

Panorama of Mitilene harbour

Megan on the dock at Mitilini

We love this harbour. We’ve snuck in behind a large naval frigate which acts as a windbreak and protects us from slop and swell. There are only two or three other inhabited yachts in the harbour, which is large. That means we can go alongside, so no shenanigans with anchors and picking up surprises. The harbour is quite sheltered; and even better, it’s free. We’ve completed all our entry formalities, and we can stay here a year if we feel like it.

Our naval escort

 

Pavlov sheltering behind 'Big Mama'.

Night in the harbour, snuggled to our navy pal.

All of a sudden, I’m feeling no stress. There’s nothing I have to do, nowhere I have to go. The pressures of preparing the boat, getting new systems installed and operational, and leaving Turkey are gone. I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders, and find that I’m enjoying myself again.

Mitilini museum, in need of some repair 

Shoreside statue

The harbour breakwater, statue and castle

Ever present Greek ferry

Mitilini is an appealing town, but shows the lack of infrastructure investment apparent through all of Greece. The harbour provides an interesting environment, with most of the town clustered close to its circumference. We visited the Byzantine castle on the hill, but it seems to be closed for repairs, a constant condition in Greece. The economic downturn is visible in all these small details of civic life.

Byzantine castle

Closed for repairs?

Public park around the castle

Civic building

We are off the charter yacht's 'map of the known world', so the harbours have a much less 'touristy' character. The cafes are filled with locals rather than yotties, the atmosphere is Greek rather than international. As we head further north into the Sporades, this will become even more so. Our next stop is Limnos, and as Heikell say's: 'Very few tourist boats put into Limnos, so facilities are limited'. Yeah!!

Main church, Mitilini

View of the church across the harbour at night 

Church steeple

Civic building, Mitilini

We rented a car for a day, to explore more of the island. Lesvos is quite large, it's the third largest Greek island after Crete and Evvios. We headed to Mount Olympus first, to the small village of Agiasos.

Agiasos village street

Village pottery shop

Beautiful stone work in the village

Iconic self-reflections

Village courtyard, entrance to church

Take the Virgin home with you

Church entrance

Doorway to church

Church interior

Another view of the interior

Church exit to village

From there, we headed down to the south coast and Plomari.

Shop keeper setting up shop

Buying bread in a bakery

Bakery counter

Flower box

Village hair pin bend

Village architecture

View from village

We tend to check out possible future anchorages when we're driving around islands (or anywhere, as a matter of fact). This sent us heading to Skala Polichnitou, to see if it would be suitable for Pavlov.

Deserted beach side

Megan inspecting a possible dock for Pavlov

Colourful inner harbour, but too shallow for us

Inner harbour, mainly for fishing caiques.

Checking out another harbour, Admiral walks the docks

Kalloni is in the centre of the island.

Church on road to Kalloni

Village glimpsed through the pines

The photographer in action

Market square in Kalloni

Village nestled in the hills

One more church, that doubled as a museum. Closed however!

Lesvos is known for its petrified wood forests.

Heading up to the north coast, we stopped at Petra for a coffee.

Old olive factories in Petra

Street scene, Petra.

Megan at a cafe in Petra on the north coast of Lesvos.

Interesting timber architecture

Last stop, and site of our flat tire, was Molivos. Here, we spent an delightful half hour changing the tire of our rental car on a tiny cobblestone street. What fun!

Castle town of Molivos

View of Turkey from Lesbos, west coast

House guardian

On the way home, we saw the most amazing site over the last 35 kilometres. There were just streams of people walking and people riding horses, stretched out along the road all the way from Mitilini up to Mantamados.  I mean, thousands of people and hundreds and hundreds of horses. There is a large church at Mantamados, called Taxiarchis, and supposedly, Archangel Michael made an appearance there, evidenced by an icon of the angel, held in the church.

Horse riders on pilgrimage to Mantamados, taken by Megan

Here's the story according to Wikipedia, which occurred during a Saracen raid on the island. 

'In either case, the story of the creation of the icon shares the theme that the target of the raids was the monastery of the Taxiarchis. The pirates threatened the monks with death if they would not reveal the whereabouts of the hidden villagers. The monks refused and the invaders slaughtered all of the monks except for one novice-monk. As the pirates where leaving, the novice climbed to the roof of the monastery to be sure that the pirates had left. However, the pirates noticed him from afar and returned to kill him as well. It is at this point in the story that the Archangel Michael makes his appearance in front of the Saracens with his own sword drawn forcing them to retreat in terror. Thanks to this miracle from the Archangel the monk survived and descending to the courtyard and buried the bodies of his fellow brotherhood. The monk still in deep respect and reverence for having witnessed the Archangel Michael in all his fury, gathered up the earth that was red by the blood of the martyred monks and shaped it into the icon-sculpture of the Archangel as it is today; while it was still vivid in his memory. According to legend, the monk did not have enough of this dirt-blood mix and so the head of the Archangel has turned out disproportionately larger to the rest of his body.

This icon, is now kept within the interior of the church. Many islanders claim to have had personal experiences of miracles being granted for them by Mantamados. This is evident by the numerous cabinets full of tagmata (gifts) to the Archangel housed inside the church. To this day, pilgrims to this church have mixed emotions regarding this icon. At times, the expression on the icon can appear severe, sad, or happy, according to the message that the Archangel wants to convey to that pilgrim or the faithful. This is the tradition of the much-celebrated icon of Mantamados'.

The icon of the Archangel Michael at Mantamados.

The river of people on the road, on foot and on horse, were making a pilgrimage to the church there. The walk takes at least 10 hours, so they were showing great dedication. The people on horseback were the most astonishing. They were cantering along the road, sometimes 3 or 4 abreast, all dressed up in silver buckles, feathers and finery. Navigating the road in the opposite direction, stemming this tide of humanity and equinity, proved to be a nightmare, and we arrived back in Mitilini, completely exhausted. Another day in the life!