Lesvos descriptions by International Travelers in Greece

During the last part of the Byzantine era and the Turkish rule, the island of Lesvos, because of its relatively large size, its productivity, and its commercial and maritime activity, was a major center connecting various nearby and far away ports. This necessarily involved some level of bureaucratic organization, codification, archiving and documentation, which would naturally bear testimony of the economical and social situation of the inhabitants.

The capture of Lesvos by the Ottoman Mohamed II in 1462 and the manifold slow-down as a result of it, during the first two centuries of the island’s enslavement to the Turks, resulted in the destruction of those archives. It is only since the 17th and, mainly, the 19th century that such documents shedding light to the past have been saved. We would never be, though, in a position to even partially reconstruct the picture of Lesbian life and society of the time had we not been left with the testimonial texts from sightseeing expeditions by international travelers. These documents, after their trustworthiness is verified, can provide a picture of places and people, valuable to research, however partial the descriptions and personal the opinions may be.

Numerous travelers wrote down their impressions after having visited Lesvos, either realizing a state mission (collection of information, acquisition of archaeological treasures, study of the Orient, etc.) or because they chose themselves to come here or even happened to sail through to it. Most of them were well-educated people and they had studied Lesvos’ History and Past. They had, more or less, studied of Sappho, Alkaeos, and Pittakos in particular, and of the Aeolian Civilization in general. It frequently happens, in case their visit had to be short and there was no time for them to see things by themselves, to copy from History books or from those written by other visitors before them.

Those who have seen the island themselves and can witness on facts give us important information. The indigence of the Lesbian people, their poor clothing and humble houses did little to impress our European visitors; there are, though, many things here that are hardly or not at all found elsewhere! To begin with, we mention the island’s ever-present natural beauty and excellent climate. “The air was warm and sweet like balsam and scented by the fresh Spring flowers…” English Lady Beaufort writes. The plethora of antiquities attracted, as well, their attention, which, of course, many of them saw to looting and taking away, either in a systematical or an amateurish way. Beaufort herself was a witness to an incidental finding of ancient statues: “Broken pieces of beautiful marble figures are frequently found in the soil of this classic land. We saw two beautiful heads, unearthed a little while ago…”

When they learn of the existence of “Myntilides,” the Lesbian wild dwarf horses, now unfortunately extinct, they are impressed: “There are also all kinds of animals, especially a species of dwarf horses, seldom higher than 11 decimeters, yet tirelessly climbing the mountains for days on end, with the agility of wild goats…” writes John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, in 1737.

Economic growth and the wealth the people of Lesvos enjoyed, despite the Turkish oppression and predacity, could hardly sugar the bitter truth of dignity and the Homeric “areti” (=virtue) missing because of enslavement. Davecier de Pont, a French traveler, writes of a characteristic event: a wedding celebration was interrupted by the local Agha (Turkish governor) because he was annoyed by the noise of the feast. The groom, deeply humiliated, the next day had to undergo a still heavier scolding, when he was summoned to the Agha’s house, where he also faced serious threat of a very heavy fine.