, dating from the early Bronze Age (related to Etruscan) inscriptions discovered in a crypt
Prehistory The ruins of the oldest human settlement in the Aegean Islands found so far have been unearthed in archaeological excavations on Lemnos by a team of Greek, Italian and American
archaeologists at the Ouriakos site on the Louri coast of Fyssini in
Moudros municipality. The excavation began in early June 2009 and the finds brought to light, consisting mainly of high quality
stone tools, are from the
Epipaleolithic Period, indicating a settlement of
hunters and gatherers and fishermen of the
12th millennium BC. A rectangular building with a double row of stepped seats on the long sides, at the southwest side of the hill of
Poliochne, dates back to the
Early Bronze Age and was possibly used as a kind of
Bouleuterion. In August and September 1926, members of the
Italian School of Archaeology at Athens conducted trial excavations on the island. The overall purpose of the excavations was to shed light on the island's pre-Hellenic "Etrusco-Pelasgian" civilization, following the discovery of the "
Lemnos stele", bearing an inscription philologists related to the
Etruscan language. The excavations, with then-current political overtones, were conducted on the site of the city of
Hephaistia (i. e., Palaiopolis) where the
Pelasgians, according to
Herodotus, surrendered to
Miltiades of Athens in 510 BC, initiating the social and political
Hellenization of the island. There, a necropolis (ca. 9th–8th centuries BC) was discovered, revealing bronze objects, pots, and over 130
ossuaries. The ossuaries contained distinctly male and female funeral ornaments. Male ossuaries contained knives and axes whereas female ossuaries contained earrings, bronze pins, necklaces, gold-diadems, and bracelets. The decorations on some of the gold objects contained spirals of
Mycenaean origin, but had no Geometric forms. According to their ornamentation, the pots discovered at the site were from the Geometric period. However, the pots also preserved spirals indicative of Mycenaean art. The results of the excavations indicate that the Early Iron Age inhabitants of Lemnos could be a remnant of a Mycenaean population and, in addition, the earliest attested reference to Lemnos is the Mycenaean Greek
ra-mi-ni-ja, "Lemnian woman", written in
Linear B syllabic script. Professor Della Seta reports: The lack of weapons of bronze, the abundance of weapons of iron, and the type of the pots and the pins gives the impression that the necropolis belongs to the ninth or eighth century B.C. That it did not belong to a Greek population, but to a population which, in the eyes of the Hellenes, appeared barbarous, is shown by the weapons. The Greek weapon, dagger or spear, is lacking: the weapons of the barbarians, the axe and the knife, are common. Since, however, this population … preserves so many elements of Mycenaean art, the Tyrrhenians or Pelasgians of Lemnos may be recognized as a remnant of a Mycenaean population.
Antiquity According to Homer, Lemnos was inhabited by the
Sintians. Thucydides mentions
Tyrrhenians as the
pre-Greek inhabitants.
Homer speaks as if there were one town in the island called Lemnos. In Classical times there were two towns,
Myrina (also called Kastro) and
Hephaistia, which was the chief town. Coins from Hephaestia are found in considerable number, and various types including the goddess Athena with her owl, native religious symbols, the caps of the
Dioscuri,
Apollo, etc. Few coins of Myrina are known. They belong to the period of Attic occupation, and bear Athenian types. A few coins are also known which bear the name of the whole island, rather than of either city. A trace of the
Lemnian language is found on a 6th-century inscription on a funerary stele, the
Lemnos stele. Lemnos later adopted the
Attic dialect of Athens. Coming down to a better authenticated period, it is reported that Lemnos was conquered by
Otanes, a general of
Darius Hystaspis. But soon (510 BC) it was reconquered by
Miltiades the Younger, the tyrant of the Thracian Chersonese. Miltiades later returned to
Athens and Lemnos was an Athenian possession until the
Macedonian empire absorbed it. By 450 BC, Lemnos was an Athenian
klēroukhia (or cleruchy, i.e. a dependency subject to direct rule by Athens). The Athenian settlers brought with them Athenian drama, dated to at least 348 BC. However, the tradition of theater seems to date back to the 5th century, and recent excavations at the site Hephaisteia suggest that the theater dated to the late 6th to early 5th century. On a barren island near Lemnos there was an altar of
Philoctetes with a brazen serpent, bows and breastplate bound with strips, to remind of the sufferings of the hero. In 197 BC, the Romans declared it free, but in 166 BC gave it over to Athens which retained nominal possession of it until the whole of Greece was made a province of the
Roman Republic in 146 BC.
Pliny the Elder writes about a labyrinth on Lemnos which was built by the Lemnian architects Zmilis, Rhoecus, and Theodorus.
Middle Ages As a province of the Byzantine Empire, Lemnos belonged to the
theme of the
Aegean Sea, and was a target of
Saracen raids in the 10th century and of
Seljuk raids in the 11th century. Following the dissolution and division of the Empire after the
Fourth Crusade, Lemnos (known by Westerners as
Stalimene) was apportioned to the
Latin Empire, and given as a fief to the Navigajoso family under the Venetian (or possibly of mixed Greek and Venetian descent)
megadux Filocalo Navigajoso. Filocalo died in 1214, and was succeeded by his son
Leonardo and his daughters, who partitioned the island into three fiefs between them. Leonardo retained the title of
megadux of the Latin Empire and half the island with the capital,
Kastro, while his sisters and their husbands received one quarter each with the fortresses of Moudros and
Kotsinos. Leonardo died in 1260 and was succeeded by his son
Paolo Navigajoso, who resisted Byzantine attempts at reconquest until his death during a siege of the island by the Byzantine admiral
Licario in 1277. Resistance continued by his wife, but in 1278 the Navigajosi were forced to capitulate and cede the island back to Byzantium. During the last centuries of Byzantium, Lemnos played a prominent role: following the loss of
Asia Minor, it was a major source of food, and it played an important role in the recurring civil wars of the 14th century. Mehmed granted a special legal charter (
kanun-name) to Lemnos, Imbros, and Thasos, at this time, later revised by
Selim I in 1519. The French scholar
Vital Cuinet, in his 1896 work ''La Turquie d'Asie'', recorded a population of 27,079, of which 2,450 were Muslims and the rest Greek Orthodox.
Moudros Bay became a forward anchorage for the Greek fleet, which enabled it to keep watch on the
Dardanelles and prevent a foray by the
Ottoman Navy into the Aegean. The Ottomans' two attempts to achieve this were beaten back in the battles of
Elli and
Lemnos. Thus the Ottomans were prevented from supplying and reinforcing their land forces in
Macedonia by sea, a critical factor in the success of the
Balkan League in the war. During
World War I, in early 1915, the
Allies used the island to try to capture the
Dardanelles Straits, some away. This was done chiefly by the British and largely due to the urging of
Winston Churchill. The harbour at Moudros was put under the control of British Admiral
Rosslyn Wemyss, who was ordered to prepare the then largely unused harbour for operations against the Dardanelles. The harbour was broad enough for British and French warships, but lacked suitable military facilities, which was recognized early on. Troops intended for
Gallipoli had to train in
Egypt, and the port found it difficult to cope with casualties of the
Gallipoli campaign. The campaign was called off in evident failure at the close of 1915. Moudros's importance receded, although it remained the Allied base for the blockade of the Dardanelles during the war. The town of
Lemnos, Victoria, Australia, established in 1927 as a
soldier settlement zone for returning First World War soldiers, was named after the island. There are three
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries on the island, the first one for the 352 Allied soldiers in
Portianou, the second one for the 148 Australian and 76 New Zealander soldiers in the town of Moudros and the third one for the Ottoman soldiers (170 Egyptian and 56 Turkish soldiers). In late October 1918, the
Armistice of Mudros between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies was signed. After the Red Army victory in the
Russian Civil War in 1920, many
Kuban Cossacks fled the country to avoid persecution from the Bolsheviks. A notable evacuation point was the Greek island of Lemnos where 18,000 Kuban Cossacks landed, though many later died of starvation and disease. Most left the island after a year. During
World War II, the island was occupied by the Germans on 25 April 1941, part of the
Axis occupation of Greece, by the Infanterie Regiment 382/164 Inf.Division under the command of Oberst Wilhelm-
Helmuth Beukemann. The same bay of Moudros used by the Allies in WWI served as a base for German ships controlling the northern Aegean sea. An important fact is that the occupation forces included German punitive bataillon, the famous 999 units, in this case the
999th Light Afrika Division (Wehrmacht) and its Afrika Schützen Regiment 963 (later Festungs Infanterie Bataillon 999). These included many German and Austrian antifascist political prisoners enrolled by force, many of whom then joined the
Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS), such as
Wolfgang Abendroth. Partially evacuated since August 1944, the island was liberated on 16 and 17 of October 1944 by the Greek
Sacred Band or Greek Sacred Squadron under the command of the British Raiding Forces (as part of the SAS or
Special Air Service). Today the island has about 30 villages and settlements. The province includes the island of
Agios Efstratios to the southwest which has some exceptional beaches. ==Municipality==