LESVOS ISLAND UNESCO GLOBAL GEOPARK

LESVOS ISLAND
UNESCO GLOBAL GEOPARK

Hola
Hello
Γειά
σας

We are so far away…
…but we are all Geoparks!

5
Hellenic
Geoparks

GREECE
 • A beautiful country
   you have to visit at
   least once in your
   life. It is one of the
   most ancient
   countries in the
   whole world and
   has a unique
   culture. It is full
   with flora and
   fauna which you
   may not see
   again.

GREECE

             LESVOS

.

Lesvos Island UNESCO Global Geopark
      Population : 90.000 people
 Area: 1630 Km2 (coastline 371 Km)
The third biggest island of the Aegean
              Archipelago
The climate
    is mild
Mediterrane
    an with
   average
temperature
 18oC and a
     lot of
  sunshine
throughout
   the year

Mytilene
The Capital city of Lesvos

   Founded 3.000 years ago
       30.000 people

Birthplace of the European Geoparks Network
 The European Geoparks Network was established in
 Lesvos in June 2000, by 4 areas : Germany, Greece,
                 France and Spain.

Lesvos Geoparks

•Lesvos Island is well known for the
 Petrified Forest and in 2000 the protected
 area of the Petrified Forest became a
 Geopark

•In 2012 all the island became a Geopark

THE PETRIFIED
     FOREST
  OF LESVOS

The creation of the Petrified Forest

• The forest’s creation
                              A journey back in time
      was caused by
     volcanic activity,
   which resulted in a
    volcanic eruption
    covering the flora
    and fauna of the
           area.
• Therefore the forest
  was formed from the
  fossilized remains of
     plants and trees
   between 17 and 20
    million years ago.

Petrified Forest of Lesvos
A unique natural monument 20.000.000 years old

                      • It is one of the two petrified
                        forests in the world (the
                        other one being The
                        Petrified Forest National
                        Park in Arisona)
                      • Spreads in an area of 150
                        square kilometres
                      • The area is enclosed by
                        the villages of Eressos,
                        Antissa and Sigri.

Gigantic
 petrified tree
     trunk

     The largest
  known standing
trunk of a petrified
  tree in the world

Sequoia
Height: 7,02m

Underwater Petrified Forest

• It is managed by the Natural History Museum of
     the Lesvos Petrified Forest since it has been
    designated as a protected natural monument.

The most important
     items.
Visiting the museum you
 can see angiosperms
  and petrified trunks
    displayed in the
       museums.

Some items from the
museum’s mineral and
  stone collection

The Volcanic crater of Vatoussa

Impressive Geosites

• Lesvos has important geosites,
• like Fossil,
• Volcanic and Geomorphological geosites,
• Beautiful Waterfalls
• and hot springs which tell us amazing stories
  about the Earth

Fossils
In 1999, a fossil lower jaw
 with ten teeth and the
 bone fragments binding
 it to the skull of the
 animal was identified as
 belonging to the primitive
 proboscidean, a
 Deinotherium. It is one
 of the oldest fossil of the
 deinothere family and
 one of the oldest
 proboscidean fossils in
 Europe.

Volcanic and Geomorphological geosites
          Volcanic neck of Petra

Eresos’ Acropole – Volcanic dome
There lived Theophrastus and Sappho

Columnar lavas

Volcanic dykes

Faults
   •The intense
tectonic activity in
    Lesvos has
contributed to the
 creation of major
 geological faults
  like those who
 created the Gera
        Gulf.

From the bottom of the Tethys ocean to
          today’s mountains

Hot/healing springs
The great volcanoes of Lesvos have silenced a long time ago,
but large concentrations of hot magma still remain at shallow
depths beneath the island. This magma acts like a giant
heater thus Lesvos has of the most important hot springs.

Polichnitos Hot Springs
One of the hottest hot springs in Europe

Eftalou Hot Springs

Gulf of Gera Hot Springs “Therma”

• Along the riverbeds
  appear steep
  waterfalls which are
  usually associated
  with the presence of
  active faults.

                                     Waterfall of Eressos

                         Pessa Waterfall

Waterfall of Klapados
                        Waterfall Man’ Katsa

Vathylimnos waterfall

Flora and Fauna

Flora of Lesvos
• Lesvos has one of the
  richest chlorides in Greece!
  The island could be
  described as a "Botanical
  Paradise": It has aromatic-
  medicinal, rare plants, trees
  and flowers.
                                  • The richness of its
                                    flora is due to the
                                    favorable climatic
                                    conditions, the
                                    morphology of its soil,
                                    the variety of its
                                    habitats, and the long-
                                    term influence of man.

Some other trees that can be found in
              Lesvos

  Pine

                 Wisteria       Cypress
  Chestnuts

Flowers

amaranth
                           Lesvos
                           orchid

                Thistle

   Poppy                     Yellow
                          Rhododendron

Fauna of Lesvos
•The fauna of
 the island is
 just as rich as
 the flora. The
 composition of
 its fauna
 depends on
 ecological,
 geographical
 factors and the
 wide variety of
 its habitats.

Kalloni’s bay
Where Aristotle walked in 344-342 B.C.
    and established the Biology

  Rich and important ecosystems for birds are the
 wetlands of Kaloni and Gera. In the Gulb of Kaloni,
              rare aquatic birds nest.

Species

                               Rabbit
Persian Squirrel

                   Dragonfly

     Fox                           Lapheate

• The science of gastronomy is the study of the relationship
   between food and culture, which includes the variety of
       products, servings and preparations of a dish.

Gastronomical products
     The gastronomic treasures of Lesvos
• The main products of the island of Lesvos are:

             olive oil                             ouzo

                                    sea food

The island of Lesvos with
its 11 million olive trees
is one of the most
important olive oil
producing regions of
Greece.
.

Traditional dishes
                     lamb with a rice filling (psito arni me rizi)

giouslemedes
                                              fried zucchini flowers
                                              (kolokitholoulouda)

Sea food dishes
                                    Scallops (chtenies)
salted sardines (pastes sardeles)

Dairy dishes/products
        fried cheese (saganaki)

                           ladotyri

Traditional deserts

                                       traditional vassilopita of Agiassos

Μπαλεζές (balezes - a type of jello)

A journey back in time with great people
• The lesbian nature existed
  as an inspirational resource
  for humanity and created
  those special artworks and
  culture.
• In Lesvos, travelers
  encounter prehistoric and
  historic archaeological
  monuments, medieval
  castles, Byzantine
  monasteries, and traditional
  villages. The rich
  architectural heritage is
  based on the use of local
  building materials which
  reflect the geological
  heritage and the natural
  environment.

The
archaeological
sites of Lesvos
Ancient theatre of
Mytilene

The ancient theatre
 of Mytilene was built
 in the early
 Hellenistic period, as
 shown by the
 architectural parts.
 During the Late
 Roman period the
 theatre was
 reconstructed and
 acquired its present
 form.

Castle of Mytilene
Built on top of a pine-covered hill near the port, the castle of Mytilene
 occupies an area of about 60 acres and it is one of the biggest castles in
 the Mediterranean. Its present form is a result of the building activity of
 Gattilusi, who dominated the island during the period 1355 to 1462 and
 of the Ottomans, who conquered Lesvos from 1462 to 1912, while only
 three sections have survived from the Byzantine phase: one small gate
 in the north side of the walls, the eastern wall of the central fortification
 and the tank in the castle.

Castle of Mithymna
The castle of Molyvos is located in the northern part of the island, at the
 site of ancient Mithymna. It is the second castle of Lesvos in size and
   importance. It was built during the Byzantine era on top of ancient
  remnants of extensive walls, built in order to face Franks’ and Turks’
raids. It was completed in 1373 by the Genovese Francisco A. Gattilusi.

Castle of Sigri
The castle of Sigri is one of the later fortifications on the island. It is located
at the westernmost tip of Lesvos and was built in 1757 by Suleiman Pasha,
the admiral of the Ottoman fleet, to protect the area from pirate raids and to
                  ensure the smooth movement of goods.

Roman Aqueduct of Moria
• The remains of a Roman
  aqueduct are found in
  the area of Moria, about
  6 km from the city of
  Mytilene. It is estimated
  that the Roman
  aqueduct was built in
  the late 2nd century AD
  by Hadrian, the Roman
  emperor.
• It was used for the water
  transportation from the
  springs of Olympos
  Mountain to the ancient
  city of Mytilene, in a
  distance of about 26 km.

Architecture

The town of Mytilene has a large number
  of neoclassical buildings, public and private
 houses. Some of them are the building of the
    Lesbos Prefecture, the old City Hall, the
Experimental Lyceum and various mansions and
            hotels all over the town.

Saint Therapon, Mytilene
The Baroque church of Saint
Therapon dominates at the port
with its impressive style.

Painting in
 Mytilini

Wall Paintings

Mosaics

Theofilos
• Theophilos
  Hatzimihail (1870-1934 ),
  known simply as Theophilos,
  was a major folk painter
  of modern Greek art. The
  main subject of his works are
  Greek characters and the
  illustration of Greek traditional
  folklife and history.

Poetry

 •Mytilene has without a doubt the most
 famous,the best poets.Having won a lot
 of awards Lesbian artists are definetely
  very important,and that is the reason I
would like to introduce you some of them!

Sappho
 Sappho (630 - 570 BC) was an archaic Greek poet from the island of
   Lesbos. She is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung and
accompanied by a lyre. Most of Sappho's poetry is now lost. Sappho's
   poetry is still considered extraordinary and her works continue to
  influence other writers. Beyond her poetry, she is well known as a
              symbol of love and desire between women.

Alkeos

• Alkaeos of Mytilene (6th century BC) was
     a lyric poet from the Greek island of
                     Lesbos

Odysseas Elytis (1911- 1996) was regarded as a
major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece
and the world. In 1979 he was awarded the Nobel
                  Prize in Literature.
 His phenomenal landmark work is Truly Meet (Το
Άξιον Εστί). This work due to its setting to music by
   Mikis Theodorakis as an oratorio, is a revered
 anthem whose verse is sung by all Greeks for all
 injustice, resistance and for its sheer beauty and
                  musicality of form.

Traditional Greek, Mitilinean dances

Traditional Greek, Mitilinean songs

          National anthem, Ύμνος προς την
          Ελευθερία, Dionysios Solomos

           Τα ξύλα

           Αμύγδαλο ετσάκισα, Παναγιώτης Παπλωματάς

Source of life & inspiration
  from the ancient years
        until today

Educational programs
    & activities

Preserving our geological heritage
Cleaning and conservation of fossils

Excavation of fossils

Learning about climate change

Learning about Earthquakes

Geotourism activities

Open air Petrified Forest Parks

Birdwatching place

Νησιώπη

Σίγρι

Νησιώπη

Geo-Cruises with the
glass bottom boat “NISSIOPI”

THE EARTH FESTIVAL
   Cultural events

School Life
Schools start on 10th of September and end on 10th of
June
Lessons start at 8:00 am and finish at 14:00 pm from
Monday to Friday
Six short breaks during the day
Subjects: Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Ancient and
modern Greek: Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, History,
English, ITC, PE, Music, Art, English, German or French
Environmental and Cultural Projects
European projects

School Life
4th Junior High School of Mytilene

ASPnet UNESCO Greece member

Thank you very much
  Muchas gracias
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