Historical Events

It is characterised as the darkest period that the island of Lesvos has ever experienced in its history, in line with the fate of the rest of Greece. Mohammed II the Conqueror and the vizier Mahmoud Pasha besiege Mytilene with 60 ships. Lesbos is occupied. As part of the general tactics followed by the conquerors, among other things, is the mass Islamisation of the local inhabitants, who were forced to adopt Turkish customs. This Islamisation was the result of humiliation, violence and the seizure of goods suffered by the enslaved Greeks.

The adventures of Lesvos did not end with its occupation. For many years, both on land and at sea, wars took place, mainly between the Turks and the Venetians, whom during the early years after the conquest continued to occupy many areas of Greece.

Financial life

During the 16th century, Lesvos was mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry. The depopulation that the island suffered and the transfer of its most prosperous and productive work force to the City, led to the stagnation of the commercial activity and the shift of the inhabitants towards the cultivation of the land. The majority of the island’s population lived in the countryside. Some of them could move from area to area despite the regulations and restrictions imposed by the Turks, while others lived in serfdom, as they were an integral part of the agricultural land where they lived and therefore had no right to move. In general, the survival of the inhabitants of Lesvos depended mainly on the weather conditions and on the fertility of the land they cultivated, at least the part of it which was not withheld by the Turkish predation.

Social life

We have little information about the social life of the island’s inhabitants during the period of the Ottoman occupation and it is based on various texts, mainly by foreign travellers. According to them, it appears that the life of the people of Lesvos was mired in misery and destitution. Their only consolation was the church where, with the granting of privileges by the Sultan to the Patriarchate, the flame of orthodoxy was kept alive, which was the tinder for the national awakening. Poverty, hunger, swamp fevers, leprosy were familiar situations for the people of Lesvos. Now and then a festival, wedding or other religious gatherings were held to provide relief to the inhabitants. Superstitions plagued the people and deprived them of all educational opportunities.