North Ancient Harbour in Mytilene

In ancient times, the city of Mytilene had the form of a small island, which was separated from the mainland by Euripos, a narrow natural strait, 700 m. long and 30 m. wide, which connected the two bays/harbours of the city (the north and the south), reinforcing at the same time the city’s natural fortification (“For the ancient city is a small island, and the later city, which was founded near it, is opposite it on the island of Lesbos; and between the two cities is a narrow strait which also adds strenght to the city“, Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library XIII.79.6). The configuration of Euripos was such that it allowed war triremes to sail through it, while stone bridges connected the island and coastal parts of the city at key points.

The northern commercial harbour of Mytilene is located under the walls of the Genoese fortress to the northwest, while the southern military harbour is associated with the current harbour of the city. There are frequent references in ancient sources of the two harbours of Mytilene, sometimes briefly and sometimes more thoroughly described in their historical context. From the references of Thucydides (Historia C.1-6, 2.2) on the occasion of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), Aristotle (The Situations and Names of Winds 973, a.9-11, b.2), Strabo (Geographica XIII.2.2), Diodorus of Sicily (Historical Library XIII.79.5-6), we learn that the northern commercial harbour was an organic part of the city (“the harbour in the city“) and was called ‘Maloentas‘ (“the harbour of the people of Mytilene“), after the nickname “Maloeis“, by which Apollo was worshipped in his adjacent sanctuary, near the harbour and the ancient market of the city. We are also informed that it was large and deep, unlike the smaller southern war harbour, described as a ‘closed trireme harbour’, which served as a naval base with a specific capacity for fifty triremes (‘there are two harbours in Mytilene, of which the southern closed trireme harbour has fifty ships, and the northern one is large and deep, covered with earth: both neighbouring harbours are part of the city“). From the southern harbour, which was able to be sealed with a lock (metal chain), no visible building remains are preserved today. From the northern commercial harbour, which was located opposite the market and was a purely commercial district of ancient Mytilene, a large part of the piers has been preserved. During the era of the House of Gattilusi, the northern harbour was known as the harbour of ‘Agios Georgios’, while today it is called the harbour of ‘Epano Skala’.

The first building phase of the northern commercial harbour dates back to Archaic times and is probably associated with the smaller scale semi-submerged pier, which is preserved in the southeastern part of the basin. However, more recent underwater surveys carried out at the site between 2007 and 2009 have shown that this pier may have originated from earlier times. In the Classical period, the harbour was expanded, but due to the Peloponnesian War, it was not completed. Its monumental configuration dates back to the second half of the 4th c. BC. The large eastern pier is 350 m. long and 7.50 m. wide, the smaller western pier is 75 m. long and 8.5 m. wide, while the width of the entrance between them is estimated to have been 300 m. Along the piers, there were 10 transverse rectangular openings every 38 m. (seven in the eastern and three in the western pier), 1.55-2.20 m. wide, necessary for the outlet of the waves and the cleaning of the harbour. The openings once featured an arched cover and a stone floor to prevent the foundation from being undermined by underwater currents. For the construction of the piers, the emplecton building system was applied: large rectangular stone blocks were used on the outside and small irregular stones on the inside as infill. Extensive rock armour support was used for the consolidation of the underwater seabed and the foundation of the large stone pillars of the piers.

Typologically, the northern harbour belongs to the category of closed harbours: it had towers at the extremities, while it seems that the northern coastal/sea defence wall of the city extended over the piers. The inner side of the latter was shaped as a dock/quay for the mooring of ships, the service of passengers, the movement of goods and merchandise. At least two building phases can be distinguished on the western pier, dating back to the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Between the years 1999 and 2000, excavation work in the coastal zone of the northern harbour brought to light the monumental western entrance of Euripos, part of the adjacent dock, as well as part of a transverse pier, 18.10 m. long and 5.70-6.10 m. wide, constructed using the isodomic building system. To the east of the dock, a four-sided structure with a semi-circular end on one side was found (max. height: 2 m. and diameter: 4 m.), which is similar to the extremity of the former monumental western entrance to Euripos. The portable finds found on-site date from the Archaic to the Late Roman period, while to the east of Euripos, part of the Classical wall, pottery and metalworking workshops and the remains of a Roman building were uncovered.

Over the years, the degradation of the northern harbour gradually occurred, which should be considered as directly linked to the filling of the basin, a process that had already begun in the early Christian period, along with the filling of Euripos. From references in written sources of the 14th c. and later depictions of the harbour in engravings of the 18th c., we are informed that at the end of the large eastern pier, there was the so-called ‘Tower of Larada‘, which was destroyed by the Ottomans in 1462 with the enslavement of the island and was subsequently replaced by a lighthouse. During the Ottoman period, the wider area of Epano Skala was used as a cemetery, as it had previously been used in Archaic times. After the liberation of Lesbos and the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the first Asia Minor refugee settlement and the adjacent market of the same name were founded in the area of Epano Skala.

Today, the archaeological site of the northern harbour of Mytilene is permanently open to the general public and visitors can freely admire the architectural remains of this great public technical construction of antiquity.

Location

Municipality: Mytilene

Municipal Section: Mytilene

Location: Epano Skala Mytilene

Images

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