Castle of Molyvos, Lesbos: Up the olive tree mountain

The transition to the new regime was peaceful and the Gattilusi loved the island. They rebuilt the ruined castle of Methymna, which stood on top of a rocky hill, and eagerly engaged in the cultivation of olive trees, ensuring a period of prosperity and providing the area with a new name. According to the prevailing theory, the word “Molyvos” is a contraction of the Frankish “Mont d’olives”, i.e. mount of olive-trees, and from the 14th century onwards it became the predominant name of Methymna.

Climbing up to the Molyvos castle, starting from the settlement that spreads around it, can be relatively demanding, but its beauty is well worth the effort. The castle itself is built of reddish-brown trachyte rock, in complete harmony with the stone houses of the area. Ten tall towers reinforced the castle’s fortification, which features three successive gates, while the buildings surviving inside the fortress date from the Ottoman period.

According to tradition, the first Ottoman siege ended unsuccessfully, when Orietta Doria, the daughter of the Genoese commander, put on armour and fought on the battlements, thus encouraging the soldiers; her bravery inspired Verdi to compose the opera Orietta di Lesbos. The island eventually surrendered to Mohammed II in 1462, turning Molyvos into the administrative and military centre of northern Lesbos; it was not liberated until 1912.