Mytilene cruise port guide

About Mytilene

Mytilene is the capital of Lesbos, the third-largest Greek island at 1,633 km², located in the northeastern Aegean Sea close to the Turkish coast. The port city is rich in Ottoman and Genoese heritage and is the island's gateway, offering access to scenic villages, olive groves, natural hot springs, and the petrified forest.

Mytilene town itself rewards leisurely exploration: the imposing Genoese castle, the neoclassical waterfront mansions, and the Museum of Theophilos (housing the naïve paintings of the locally celebrated self-taught artist Theophilos Chatzimichael). Day excursions can take in Molyvos, a quintessentially picturesque medieval village clinging to a volcanic hillside under its Genoese castle; the UNESCO Petrified Forest at Sigri; and the traditional village of Agiassos with its carnival tradition and Byzantine church.