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Agii Anargyri - A Secret Greenness Beauty of Lesvos

  1. General Information
  2. Agii Anargyri and the Homonymous Chapel
  3. Agii Anargyri Events
  4. Agii Anargyri Attractions
  5. Leisure and Dining in Agii Anargyri 
  6. How to Arrive
  7. Nearby Attractions

General Information

To many, a visit to Agii Anargyri is akin to a journey into the land of fairytales. The remote, profoundly beautiful area is renowned for its greenness and for the sense of tranquility it can bestow to those lucky enough to set foot on Agii Anargyri.

Agii Anargyri (sometimes spelt ‘Agioi Anargyroi’) -  is set 25 kilometers away from Mytilene and lies at only a short distance away from Asomatos, the village regarded as the prettiest in the region of Evergetoulas. It is popular with visitors who arrive at Asomatos, explore the village and then proceed to the riverside area in the hope of enjoying its leafy coolness. Whether you are keen to savor a few peaceful moments in the shade of the area’s tall, age-old trees or keen to discover its single café, you are certain to fall for the fecundity and peace of this truly magical setting.

Agii Anargyri is an area of unmatched natural beauty known for its profound greenness and the ever-flowing streams that bestow it an aura of magic.  An enchanting destination that entices visitors to roam by the river banks, savor its atmosphere and spend a few peaceful moments in the shady green setting, Agii Anargyri is filled with plane, chestnut, cherry and sour cherry trees, whose leaves turn from green to vivid red in the summer months.

Agii Anargyri and the Homonymous Chapel

Lesvos has an immense religious tradition, each of its churches and chapels bespeaking the profound religious sentiment of its people. While their presence in Lesvos is not half as pronounced as that of the Virgin Mary and Saint Michael the Archangel, who are immensely revered  on the island, Agii Anargyri are greatly esteemed in Orthodox Christianity. The chapel of Agii Anargyri (circa 1881) is an integral part of the religious life of Asomatos and attracts pilgrims from the entirety of the island.

‘Anargyros’ is an adjective describing someone who refuses to accept payment for his services and, indeed, the Agii Anargyri Saints are historically claimed to have worked as doctors who never once received payment. While the adjective is commonly used to describe the Saints Kosmas and Damianos, there are in fact three pairs of Saints with the same names. By an amazing coincidence, each Kosmas-Damianos pair were twins who acted as doctors but died on different dates, were sainted in different manners and are celebrated on three different days (September 1st, July 1st and October 17th).

Agii Anargyri Events

The twin Saints Kosmas and Damianos died in the year 284 AD and are believed to have converted Emperor Karinos to Christianity in the course of their martyrdom. Their memory is celebrated on July 1st, when Agii Anarygri becomes filled with people who come to the chapel to pay their respects to the Saints and take part in the festivities.
Celebrations commence on the 30th of June, an auspicious date as the care of olive trees has been mostly completed, summer vegetables have been planted and the harvest is still small. At least in the past, the end of June marked the time of year when the residents of Asomatos could afford to relax and enjoy an evening of music and dancing. It is said that the children of Asomatos would arise early on July 1st only to crawl under the tables and chairs used in the previous night’s celebrations and look for coins that might have dropped out of the pockets of the participants to the feast.

The festival of Agii Anargyri is a long-standing tradition that brings hoards of local residents and visitors from all across Lesvos to the quiet area. It is an opportunity to rejoice in a cool, amazingly beautiful location that is worth coming to on any day of the year.

Agii Anargyri Attractions

A traditional olive press was recently added to the landscape of Agii Anargyri and is a pole of attraction for numerous schools or independent visitors that set off from Asomatos and follow up their visit to the village’s Ecclesiastic Museum and Folklore Exhibition with a walk to the riverside area. The 80-year-old olive press is fully operational:  seeing it at work will give you a first-hand experience of the traditional methods used in the extraction of olive oil and you might even enjoy a taste of freshly-baked bread drizzled with olive-oil, a traditional Lesvian treat.

Leisure and Dining in Agii Anargyri

If you find yourself in central Lesvos, do make the trip to Agii Anargyri. The area is simply magical, the riverside location green, shady and cool, and you will be enticed to explore its rich fauna and flora, roam among the trees and rest in the single café that graces Agii Anargyri. It is the perfect spot to sample homemade spoon sweets made from local cherries or sour cherries and savor a cup of Greek coffee or to have a sit-down meal and enjoy a variety of reasonably-priced traditional dishes made from local ingredients. However you decide to spend your visit, you will be enthralled by the beauty of the scenery and cherish your time in the enchanting, profoundly green Agii Anargyri.

How to Arrive

The area is best approached from Asomatos, which deserves a visit in its own right. At a 1.3 kilometer distance from the latter village, Agii Anargyri  is served by an overgrown, cobblestone path that begins west of Asomatos, right by the cemetery. For the first 759 meters the route is downhill then becomes flat.

Nearby Attractions

The traditional village of Asomatos is one of the most charming locations on Evergetoulas. A must-visit destination if you venture to central Lesvos, Asomatos retains its original architecture and - though its population has been steadily diminishing since the end of the Greek Civil War - is a site where the traditional crafts of Lesvos have been preserved. Textile and basket weaving continue to maintain the long creative history of the village and an effort has been made to preserve the historical and cultural life of Asomatos.

Asomatos is home to the temple of ‘Taxiarches’ (the Great Archangels), a three-tiered basilica that looks down on the tranquil green village. The church dates from 1796. Surrounded by a glorious flower garden, the church is impressively well-maintained. Within the stone-paved churchyard, visitors will encounter an Ecclesiastic Museum and Folklore Exhibition that include a wealth of age-old books, coins, manuscripts, liturgical vestments and religious icons, as well as many samples of traditional Asomatos crafts. A visit here is strongly advised to anyone interested in gaining a sense of the history of Asomatos.

In the wider region, the valley of Evergetoulas is one of the greenest expanses on Lesvos. Waterfalls, streams, rivers and their tributaries, running springs, marshes and salt pans adorn Evergetoulas, transforming the plain into an amazingly verdant oasis.

Коллекция Естественной Истории во Вриса

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Расположен во Врисас, в муниципалитете Полихнитос, и включает в себя уникальное значимые палеонтологические находки,артефакты зоологии и ботаники.

Часы работы: с октября по апрель вторника по воскресенье с 9:30 до 17:00 с мая по 20 июня с 9:30 до 15:30 ежедневно, 21 июня-сентября с 9:30 до 15:00 и 16:00-20:00
Телефон: 22520 54434

Окаменевший Лес Музей Естествознания

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  1. General Information
  2. Paleontology in Lesvos
  3. The Natural Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest Exhibits
  4. Opening Times

General Information

The Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest was established in 1994 under the supervision of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and for the purpose of managing, conserving, promoting and carrying out research into the Petrified Forest of Sigri, the second largest Petrified Forest on Earth and arguably one of the largest attractions to the island of Lesvos. It is a member of both the European Geoparks Network and UNESCO’s Global Geoparks Network.

To its thousands of annual visitors, the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest is an invaluable source of information on the protected natural monument, whose environmental, paleontological and geological significance remains unrivalled.

The Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest is active in the cultural, economical and sustainable promotion of Lesvos and hosts a variety of international events, symposia and conferences, together with a range of film screenings, lectures and exhibitions. It is hardly surprising that so many national and international visitors are willing to brave the distance between Mytilene and Sigri and pay a visit to the Museum. A major pole of attraction to western Lesvos, The Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest is paramount to the dissemination of information on one of the most impressive natural phenomena across the globe. In 2001, its invaluable role in the preservation, promotion, study and management of the Petrified Forest of Lesvos earned the Museum the Eurosite Management Award and, in 2004, the Museum was included into the UNESCO Global Geopark Network.

The Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest is a splendid accompaniment to any tour of the actual Petrified Forest, whether you opt to use it as a starting point for your excursion or choose to visit the exhibition at the end of your visit to the Park. If you decide to set off from the Museum, do not forget to request trail and park information from one of the staff.

Paleontology in Lesvos

With the ongoing discovery of fossilized trees and vertebrate or invertebrate species in other areas of Lesvos, the Petrified Forest of Sigri bears important freight for the study of the paleontology of the broader island. Lesvos, it would appear, is a treasure-trove of paleontology and natural history, so much so that the entire island has been officially declared a protected Geopark and paleontological, geological and historical research have been ongoing.

The Natural Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest Exhibits

The Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest covers an area of 1597 square meters and encompasses a permanent exhibition, a temporary exhibition site, an audio-visual center, a laboratory and library, a snack bar, a shop and accommodation amenities for visiting researchers.

The permanent exhibition is hugely worth seeing and affords Museum visitors with a portrayal of the evolution of plant life from the primary single-cell organisms of 3.5 billions of years ago to the eventual development of the Petrifed Forest of Lesvos. The display includes the fossils of an excess of forty different plant species and a range of petrified trunks, branches and leaves, root systems and fruit are displayed alongside the images of the living plant organisms of which they would have been a part. Cinnamon, laurel, beech, oak, walnut, plane, yew, hornbeam, palm and giant sequoia trees are some the species represented in the exhibition.

The permanent exhibition, moreover, sheds light on the range of animal species to which the living forest of Sigri would have provided a habitat twenty or so millions of years ago, among them the early ancestors of elephants, as evidenced by the discovery of the petrified jaw and bones of a dinothere (that in fact constitute one of the oldest fossilized vertebrate findings in Greece and are among the rarest in Europe).

The second main exhibition area has been dedicated to the Evolution of the Aegean and offers a depiction of the geological developments that eventually caused the Petrified Forest to be created, together with the broader geological history of the Aegean region. A description of the volcanic activity and movement of lithospheric plates in the Aegean basin, volcano models and a range of examples of the volcanic formations and rock are among the exhibits.

Opening Times

The Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest is open Monday to Saturday, 09:00 am to 18:00 pm and Sundays 10:00 am to 18:00 pm in the summer season (July 1st – September 30th). In the months of winter (October 1st – June 30th), the Museum is open Monday to Saturday, from 09:00 am to 17:00 pm, and between 10:00 am and 17:00 pm on Sundays. Full tickets are priced at 5.00 euros. Family tickets (10 euros), reduced tickets for group visitors (3.00 euros) and concessions (2.50 euros) are also available.

The Lesvos Petrified Forest Park is open Monday through to Sunday, from 09:00 am to 17:00 pm between July 1st and September 30th. Please note that operation times may vary during the winter season (October 1st – June 30th) and that the Park is closed between the months of January and February. During this two-month period, group visits may be organized subject to prior arrangement only - for more information, please dial 22510 – 47033.

Виртуальный Музей Георгия Яковидиса

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  1. General Information
  2. The Painter George Iakovidis
  3. Opening Times

General Information

Born out of the combination of cutting-edge technology and modern art, The Digital Museum George Iakovidis is the first entirely digital museum in the entirety of Greece. Located in the Lesvos village of Chydira (Xidera), it is the only exhibition space where the colours of the original paintings may be admired in the way the painter intended as the digital images bring out the colours in their original vividness and undistorted by the passage of time. To marvel at the Iakovidis’ work, do make the trip to the small agricultural village of Chydira and make the most of the technology available in order best to showcase his paintings. You will be enthralled at the visual imagery and the manner that technological advance may shape the viewer’s experience of the art and aesthetics of this major Greek artist.

The Painter George Iakovidis

Born in Chydira in the year 1853, George Iakovidis became a student at the Athens School of Arts and received a scholarship to join the Bavarian Fine Arts Academy. He soon became established as a hugely promising young artist, his work receiving the praise of contemporary critics and aesthetes in a number of early exhibitions of his paintings. In 1888, Iakovidis founded his own School of Art in the city of Munich, which remained operational until 1898.

Iakovidis became recognized as a major Greek painter and aesthete. Knighted in recognition of his selfless teaching of Oil Painting in the Greek School of Arts, and favored by the entire royal family of Greece as their exclusive portrait painter, he arose in status and financial means unmatched by any of his colleagues’. Few, if any, other artists of his time received as much critical acclaim and recognition as Iakovidis, who became appointed by the King as Head of the Greek School of Fine Arts in the year 1910, and, in 1914, undertook to manage the National Gallery of the country. Iakovidis passed away at the age of eighty and received posthumous acclaim in 2005, when the Greek National Gallery organized an exhibition of his extensive work.

A master of German naturalism, Iakovidis produced a huge variety of paintings, all which display the theatricality and austerity of the German naturalist mode. His sojourn in Germany encouraged him to select everyday themes such as still lives, the imagery of children at play, floral motifs and house interiors. His return to Greece marked his elevation as a superb painter of portraits and Iakovidis continues to be regarded as a producer of incomparably expressive portraiture.

His opus is comprised of some two hundred oil paintings, several of which are on display in Europe and overseas. His son, the actor Michalis Iakovides, donated his personal journal - which includes a list of his paintings between 1878 and 1919 - to the National Gallery of Greece in 1951.

To learn more about this highly-acclaimed painter, venture to his birthplace, the small, little-known village of Chydira, and pay a visit to the George Iakovidis Digital Museum. It is the only entirely digital exhibition space in the country of Greece and, as any expert of painting would tell you, the only place in the world where the paintings of the great Greek artist may be observed in their original brilliance.

Opening Times

The Museum is open Monday to Sunday, 09:00 am - 17:00 pm from January 1st to June 30th and from September 1st to December 31st. Between the months of July and August, the Digital Museum can be visited between 09:00 am and 19:00 pm. Tickets are priced at 2.00 euros (1.00 euro concessions also available).

Музей Феофила

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Основан в честь великого художника Феофила ,родом из Вариа, на том же месте,где и  музей, рядом с Tериад. Построен в 1965 году и включает в себя четыре последовательных зала, где можно погрузиться в волшебный мир живописи Феофил с картинами демонстрирующие фольклор, мифологию и историю.
 

ЕЖЕДНЕВНО с 9:30 до 15:00
Выходные и праздничные дни закрыт
Телефон: 22510-41644

Музей современного искусства Лесбоса (Музей Териада)

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Музей назван в честь известного искусствоведа и издателя Стратис  Элевтериаду (Tерианд), основан в 1979 году и проводится выставка  Великой Книги, которая является наиболее важной из экспонатов.Все это произошло благодаря сотрудничеству с Элевтериади с  известными художниками 20-го века и сам делал пожертвования на создание музея. Музей Вы найдете в 4 км к югу от Mитилини, в Вариа.

Часы работы: ежедневно с 09:00 Летний -14:00 и с 17:00 до 20:00, зимой ежедневно с 9:00 до 17:00
Телефон: 22510-23372

 

Археологический Музей Митилини (Новое Здание)

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Недалеко от старого здания музея,в районе беседки,есть новое здание, строительство которого состоялась в 1995 году и где вы можете полюбоваться выставкой "Лесвос эллинистической эпохи и  Римской империи",  мозаичных полов и фресок, украшавшие римские виллы Mитилини.

Часы работы: вторник-воскресенье: 08:30-15:00 (кроме понедельника)
Телефон: 22510-40223

Археологический Музей Митилини (Старое Здание)

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 Старое здание Археологического музея расположена в Mитилини,где содержатся экспонаты от доисторических времен до римской эпохи. Среди них различные идолы, керамика, ювелирные изделия, монеты, статуи, надписи, надгробные плиты, и ваше внимание обязательно остановиться на знаменитых Эолийских колонах из храмов Kлопеди.

Часы работы: вторник-воскресенье с 8:30 до 15:00 (кроме понедельника)
Телефон: 22510-28032

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