Editing Lemnos (section)

==History==
[[File:Poliochne.jpg|thumb|right|Building at the hill of [[Poliochne]], dating from the early Bronze Age.]]
[[File:Καβείριο.JPG|thumb|Kabeirio archaeological site]]
[[File:Hephaistia Ancient Theatre S3000132.jpeg|thumb|Ancient theatre in [[Hephaistia]]]]
[[File:Stele von Lemnos 02.jpg|thumb|180px|right|''Lemnos stele'', [[Lemnian]] (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 [[archaeology|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|Epipaleolithic Period]], indicating a settlement of [[hunter-gatherer|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]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}

In August and September 1926, members of the [[Italian School of Archaeology at Athens]] conducted trial excavations on the island.<ref>A short account of their excavations appeared in the ''Messager d'Athènes'' for January 3, 1927.</ref> 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.&nbsp;e., Palaiopolis) where the Pelasgians, according to Herodotus, surrendered to [[Miltiades the Younger|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 [[Ossuary|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 Greece|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.<ref>[http://www.palaeolexicon.com/ShowWord.aspx?Id=16906], Word study tool of ancient languages</ref> Professor Della Seta reports:<ref>Heffner, Edward H. "Archaeological News: Notes on Recent Archaeological Excavations and Discoveries; Other News" (July–December 1926). ''American Journal of Archaeology''. Vol. 31, No. 1 (January 1927), pp. 99–127, especially pp. 123–124.</ref>

<blockquote>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.</blockquote>

===Antiquity===
According to Homer, Lemnos was inhabited by the [[Sintians]].<ref>Homer. The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924: Il. 1.594.</ref><ref>Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900: 8.5.</ref> Thucydides mentions [[Tyrrhenians]] as the [[Pre-Greek substrate|pre-Greek]] inhabitants.<ref>Thucydides. [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-grc1:4.109 Historiae in two volumes]. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1942.</ref>

[[Homer]] speaks as if there were one town in the island called Lemnos. In Classical times there were two towns, [[Myrina, Greece|Myrina]] (also called Kastro) and [[Hephaistia]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/550569 |title=Hephaistia |date=May 2019 |publisher=Pleiades, directory of Ancient Places}}</ref> 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 Greek|Attic dialect]] of Athens.

Coming down to a better authenticated period, it is reported that Lemnos was conquered by [[Otanes]], a general of [[Darius I of Persia|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 [[Macedon]]ian empire absorbed it. By 450 BC, Lemnos was an Athenian [[cleruchy|''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.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0551.tlg014.perseus-grc1:11.77 Appian, Mithridatic Wars, 11.77]</ref>

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. After the division of the [[Roman Empire]] in 395, Lemnos passed to the [[Byzantine Empire]].

[[Pliny the Elder]] writes about a labyrinth on Lemnos which was built by the Lemnian architects Zmilis, Rhoecus, and Theodorus.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/153#36.19.3 Pliny the Elder, Natural History 12–37, 36.19.3]</ref>

=== Middle Ages ===
{{further|Byzantine Greece|Frankokratia}}
[[File:Myrina castle from romeikos gialos day.JPG|thumb|View of the fortress of Myrina.]]

As a province of the Byzantine Empire, Lemnos belonged to the [[Theme (Byzantine district)|theme]] of the [[Aegean Sea (theme)|Aegean Sea]], and was a target of [[Saracen]] raids in the 10th century and of [[Seljuk Turks|Seljuk]] raids in the 11th century.<ref name="ODB">{{ODB | last = Gregory | first = Timothy E. | title = Lemnos | page=1205}}</ref><ref name="EI2">{{EI2 | volume = 5 | title = Limni | last = de Groot | first = A. H. | pages = 763–764}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="EI2"/><ref>{{The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium | pages = 112, 130, 144}}</ref> Filocalo died in 1214, and was succeeded by his son [[Leonardo Navigajoso|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, [[Myrina, Greece|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.<ref name="ODB"/> As the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] threat mounted in the 15th century, possession of Lemnos was demanded by [[Alfonso V of Aragon]] in exchange for offering assistance to the beleaguered Byzantines, while the last Byzantine emperor, [[Constantine XI Palaiologos]], offered it to the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] captain [[Giustiniani Longo]], if the Ottoman besiegers were driven off.<ref name="ODB"/> [[Dorino I Gattilusio]], the ruler of [[Lesbos]], also acquired Lemnos as his fief shortly before the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453.<ref name="EI2"/>

===Ottoman period===
{{further|Ottoman Greece}}
[[File:Carte de l'ile de Lemnos - Choiseul-gouffier Gabriel Florent Auguste De - 1809.jpg|thumb|Map of Lemnos, 1809]]
Following the fall of Constantinople (1453), and thanks to the intercession of [[Michael Critobulus]], Sultan [[Mehmed II]] recognized Dorino I Gattilusio's possession of Lemnos and [[Thasos]] in exchange for an annual tribute of 2,325 gold coins. When Dorino died in 1455, his son and successor [[Domenico Gattilusio|Domenico]] was only granted Lemnos, however.<ref name="EI2"/> In 1456, Mehmed II attacked and captured the Gattilusi domains in Thrace ([[Enez|Ainos]] and the islands of [[Samothrace]] and [[Imbros]]). During the subsequent negotiations with Domenico Gattilusio, the Greek populace of Lemnos rose up against Domenico's younger brother [[Niccolò Gattilusio]] and submitted to the Sultan, who appointed a certain Hamza Bey as governor under the [[Sanjak of Gallipoli|Bey of Gallipoli]], Isma'il.<ref name="EI">{{cite encyclopedia | article= Limni | first = J. H. | last = Kramers | author-link = J. H. Kramers | encyclopedia = E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume V: L–Moriscos | editor-first = Martijn Theodoor | editor-last = Houtsma | publisher = BRILL | location = Leiden | year = 1987 | isbn = 90-04-08265-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iJQ3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA27 | pages =27–28 }}</ref> Mehmed granted a special legal charter (''kanun-name'') to Lemnos, Imbros, and Thasos, at this time, later revised by [[Selim I]] in 1519.<ref name="EI2"/> In 1457 a [[Papal States|Papal]] fleet under Cardinal [[Ludovico Scarampi Mezzarota]] captured the island.<ref name="EI2"/> [[Pope Callixtus III]] (in office 1455–1458) hoped to establish a new [[Military order (society)|military order]] on the island, which controlled the exit of the [[Dardanelles]], but nothing came of it as Isma'il Bey soon recovered Lemnos for the Sultan.<ref name="EI"/>

In 1464, during the [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479)|First Ottoman–Venetian War]], the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] seized Lemnos and other former Gattilusi possessions, but the area reverted to Ottoman control in accordance with the 1479 [[Treaty of Constantinople (1479)|Treaty of Constantinople]].<ref name="EI"/> In the aftermath, the [[Kapudan Pasha]], [[Gedik Ahmed Pasha|Gedik Ahmed]], repaired the island's fortifications and brought in settlers from [[Anatolia]]. At this time, the administration of the island was also reformed and brought in line with Ottoman practice, with a governor (''[[voevoda]]''), judge ([[Kadi (Ottoman Empire)|''kadi'']]), and elders (''[[kodjabashis]]'') heading the local Greek inhabitants.<ref name="EI2"/> In the late 16th century, Lemnos is recorded, along with Chios, as "the only prosperous island of the Archipelago". It had 74 villages, three of them inhabited by Turkish Muslims.<ref name="EI2"/>

In July 1656, during the [[Cretan War (1645–1669)|Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War]], the Venetians captured the island again following a [[Battle of the Dardanelles (1656)|major victory]] over the Ottoman fleet. The Ottomans under Topal Mehmed Pasha recovered it barely a year later, on 15 November 1657, after besieging the capital of Kastro for 63 days.<ref name="EI"/> The famous [[Sufi]] poet Niyazi Misri was exiled to Lemnos for several years during the late 17th century. In July 1770, Russian forces under Count [[Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov]] [[Siege of Lemnos (1770)|besieged]] Kastro for three months during the [[Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774]]. The fortress had just surrendered when an [[Battle of Kastro|attack]] by the Ottoman fleet under [[Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha]] on the Russian vessels in Mudros Bay forced the Russians to withdraw (9–10 October 1770).<ref name="EI"/> Only a few days later, the pasha and Orlov [[Battle of Mudros|clashed]] once again at [[Mudros]], which once again resulted in an Ottoman victory.

[[File:Fountain in Myrina Lemnos Greece.jpg|thumb|Ottoman fountain in [[Myrina, Greece|Myrina]]]]
Under Ottoman rule, Lemnos initially formed part of the ''[[sanjak]]s'' of Gallipoli or Mytilene under the [[Eyalet of the Archipelago]], but was constituted as a separate ''sanjak'' in the [[Tanzimat|reforms]] of the mid-19th century, at the latest by 1846. Abolished in 1867, the sanjak was re-formed in 1879 and existed until the [[Capture of Lemnos (1912)|island's capture]] by the Greeks in 1912. It comprised the islands of Lemnos (Limni in Turkish), [[Agios Efstratios]] (Bozbaba), Imbros (Imroz) and [[Tenedos]] (Bozcaada).<ref name="EI"/><ref name="Provinzen">{{Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches | page = 105}}</ref>

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.<ref name="EI"/>

===Modern period===
[[File:Ottoman vs Greek fleet, 1913.png|thumb|200px|Diagram by the French ''[[L'Illustration]]'', depicting the Greek and Ottoman fleets and the warships that participated in the [[Battle of Lemnos (1913)]]]]
[[File:View of Mudros showing French wine store. In the background is the French hospital. Lemnos Island, Aegean Sea.... - NARA - 533107.tif|thumb|200px|View of Moudros during the [[Gallipoli campaign]] in WWI, with a French military wine store in the foreground and a hospital in the background.]]
[[File:Allied cemetery, Moudros, Lemnos.jpg|thumb|200px|WWI Allied cemetery in Mudros]]

On 8 October 1912, during the [[First Balkan War]], Lemnos became part of [[Greece]]. The Greek navy under Rear Admiral [[Pavlos Kountouriotis]] captured it [[Capture of Lemnos (1912)|after a brief action]] without any casualties from the Ottoman garrison, who were returned to Anatolia. [[Peter Charanis]], born on the island in 1908, and later a professor of [[History of the Byzantine Empire|Byzantine history]] at [[Rutgers University]], recounts when the island was liberated and Greek soldiers were sent to the villages and stationed themselves in the public squares. Some of the children ran to see what Greek soldiers looked like; "What are you looking at?", one of them asked; "At Hellenes", the children replied; "Are you not Hellenes yourselves?", a soldier retorted; "No, we are [[Byzantine Greeks|Romans]]", the children replied; which might seem odd at a first glance, but indicates that in parts of Greece the locals self-identified as a continuation of the Eastern, Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire ([[Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι)|Ρωμιοί]]), along with their Greek identity.<ref>Kaldellis, Anthony (2008). Hellenism in Byzantium: The Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0521876885}}. pp. 42–43.</ref>

[[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 [[Naval Battle of Elli|Elli]] and [[Naval Battle of Lemnos|Lemnos]]. Thus the Ottomans were prevented from supplying and reinforcing their land forces in [[Macedonia (Greece)|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 of World War I|Allies]] used the island to try to capture the [[Dardanelles]] Straits, some {{convert|50|km|0|abbr=off}} 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' 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 (Australia)|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).<ref>[http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ottoman-military-graveyard-found-on-greek-island-off-gallipoli-81491 Ottoman military graveyard found on Greek island off Gallipoli]</ref>

In late October 1918, the [[Armistice of Mudros|armistice]] between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies was signed at Moudros.

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, in the wake of the [[Wehrmacht]]’s invasion 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 (World War II)]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sand Dunes on the Greek Isle of Lemnos |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lemnos-sand-dunes |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref>