Limnos

Castles, a 5,000-year-old city, stone villages, impressive attractions and indescribably delicious local food and wine

Today, this very island retains its healing qualities in another sense. Though well off the beaten track, its friendly inhabitants, serene, open landscapes and golden sand dunes offer balm to body and soul. And as if these were not enough, there are unusual archaeological sites, romantic castles and scrumptious local products. Among them are the abundant, affordable fish and seafood dishes, wonderful wines, honey, cheese and pasta from the land that used to be one of the breadbaskets and vineyards of ancient Greece.

What to do on Limnos

Myrina: A castle town with two seafronts
The castle in Limnos’ principal town occupies a steep, rocky promontory flanked by two seaside neighbourhoods – the Romeiko (Greek) and Turkiko (Turkish) Yialo (shore). One of the island’s major attractions, its only access is from the east. It was erected by the Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komninos (1118-1185) on the site of older walls, most probably ancient. In the 1970s, the municipality of Rhodes donated to Limnos three deer of the Dama dama species, two does and a buck. They went forth and multiplied and there are now some 50 to 70 deer living freely within the castle walls, adding to the pleasure of your visit.

Poliochni, a prehistoric settlement in the Aegean
Founded in the late 4th-early 3rd millennium BC, on a hillock overlooking Cape Vroskopou, this was one of the most important Neolithic-Bronze Age settlements in the Aegean. It went through so many different building phases in its 2,000-plus years of existence that archaeologists have assigned them colours for clarity – black, blue, green, red, yellow, brown and violet.

The villages of Limnos
Holidays in traditional villages made up of genuine stone masterpieces. No matter which one you happen to stop in – Myrina, Kontopouli, Romanos, Kontia, Katalako or any other – you’ll be introduced to the art of the stonemason; the decorative reliefs, the remarkable finishing techniques and the ‘mantras’. These are not the usual isolated sheep pens or stables you’d find elsewhere, but more sophisticated complexes of farm buildings.

Famous local flavours
Limnos has a long tradition in certain types of food. It’s famous throughout Greece for its dairy products, honey and durum wheat. Look for cheeses (such as melichloro, kaskavali and kalathaki), rusks, whole-wheat flour and handmade noodles, as well as a large variety of wines, red and white, that have a distinctive taste thanks to the volcanic soils. The best known red grape varietal is called Kalambaki or Limnio (Appellation of Controlled Origin). The most popular white is the Muscat of Alexandria. They were famous even in Homer’s day.