Introduction
The castle of Myrina, one of the largest castles in the Aegean!
The castle or kastro of Myrina, one of the largest kastra in the Aegean, looms impregnable and proud over the volcanic crags of the precipitous peninsula on which the city is built. Over the centuries, the castle has experienced several sieges and different rulers in its checkered history. The first prehistoric fortifications of the Minyans and Pelasgians were reinforced and expanded in Classical times by the Athenians.
In the time of the Byzantine Empire, the Byzantines founded the castle upon the ancient acropolis. This kastro was subsequently reconstructed and arranged by the Venetians. The present form of the fortress was created over the centuries as a result of the repairs, reconstructions, extensions and additions made by various rulers, such as the Venetians, Byzantines and Ottomans.
The rugged, steep and rocky terrain, in combination with the robust walls incorporated in the rocks, made the castle one of the most impregnable and mighty in the Aegean.
Impossible to capture
For this reason, the castle was never captured by attack, but only after capitulation. The German traveller Frieseman, who visited the castle in the late eighteenth century, wrote: ‘The Castle of Lemnos cannot be captured except by a very well organized artillery and mainly with bombs which would make the fractures in the rocks and the masonry fatal. It stands so high above sea level and has such a steep gradient that cannon fire from ships would have had no effect'.
Habitation and finds
The castle has never been excavated or investigated systematically. Even so, surface surveys have revealed that the area on which it was built and the slopes to south and east were inhabited from the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 ΒC) and possibly even earlier.
Finds from the peninsula on which the castle stands include fragments of jewellery and metal objects, of metal and clay lamps, and of figurines of female and male deities, loom-weights, sherds of clay vases, a marble head of a child statue and bronze coins which are dated between the late eighth century BC and the third century AD.
Scattered over the entire extent of the kastro are pottery sherds of all periods –Archaic, Classical, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman–, remnants and testimonies of the centuries-long history of the site.
3D Presentation of the Castle
