Methymna
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Mithymna Μήθυμνα |
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 Mithymna
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Location within the regional unit
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| Coordinates: 39°22′N 26°10′E / 39.367°N 26.167°ECoordinates: 39°22′N 26°10′E / 39.367°N 26.167°E | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | North Aegean |
| Regional unit | Lesbos |
| Municipality | Lesbos |
| • Municipal unit | 50.166 km2 (19.369 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 51 m (167 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Municipal unit | 2,255 |
| • Municipal unit density | 45/km2 (120/sq mi) |
| Community | |
| • Population | 1,570 (2011) |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal code | 811 08 |
| Area code(s) | 22530 |
| Vehicle registration | MY |
| Website | mithymna.gr |
Mithymna (Greek pronunciation: [ˈmiθimna]) (Greek: Μήθυμνα, also sometimes spelled Methymna) is a town and former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. Before 1919, its official name was Μόλυβος - Molyvos; that name dates back to the end of the Byzantine Era, but is still in common use today.
The second most important town of the island, it is located NE of Eressos, N of Plomari and NW of Mytilene.
The town (pop. 1,399 at 2011 census) is on the northern part of the island, just some 6 km north of the popular beach town of Petra. One of the most noticeable features of the town is the old Genoese fortress on the hill in the middle of the town.
The municipal unit of Míthymna stretches eastward from the town along the northern part of the island; it is the island's smallest municipal unit in land area at 50.166 km². Its population was 2,255 at the 2011 census. The next largest towns in the municipal unit are Árgennos (pop. 240) and Sykaminéa (207).
As Methymna, the city was once the prosperous second city of Lesbos, with a founding myth that identified an eponymous Methymna (Greek: Μήθυμνα), the daughter of Macar and married to the personification of Lesbos.
Very little is known about Methymna in the Archaic period. The story of Arion and the dolphin, which involves the Corinthian tyrant Periander and is evidently set at the turn of the 7th century BCE, suggests that Methymna was already a prominent city with far-reaching contacts across the Greek world at this period.Herodotus tells us that at some point in the Archaic period, Methymna enslaved the city of Arisba on Lesbos: this will have greatly increased the territory of Methymna, as well as giving it access to the fertile land around the Gulf of Kalloni. We are also told by a local historian, Myrsilus of Methymna, who wrote in the first half of the 3rd century BCE, that Methymna founded the city of Assos which was on the coast of Asia Minor opposite Methymna. However, another local historian, Hellanicus of Lesbos, writing in the mid-5th century BCE, instead simply says Assos was an Aeolian foundation and does not specify a particular city as its founder. This has led some historians to doubt Myrsilus, and instead suggest that this is an example of "local Methymnaean manipulation of the past", although this could equally be true of Hellanicus.
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