Limnos
Limnos municipality Δήμος Λήμνου |
||
---|---|---|
|
||
Basic data | ||
State : | Greece | |
Region : | North Aegean | |
Regional District : | Limnos | |
Geographic coordinates : | 39 ° 55 ' N , 25 ° 14' E | |
Area : | 477.583 km² | |
Residents : | 16,992 (2011) | |
Population density : | 35.6 inhabitants / km² | |
Seat: | Myrina | |
LAU-1 code no .: | 5501 | |
Districts : | 4 municipal districts | |
Local self-government : |
30 local communities |
2 city districts |
Location in the North Aegean region | ||
Limnos ( modern Greek Λήμνος ( f. Sg. ), Ancient Greek Λῆμνος Lemnos in ancient times ) is a Greek island in the North Aegean . Since 2011, the island has formed the municipality of Limnos (Δήμος Λήμνου) and, together with Agios Efstratios, the regional district of Limnos (Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Λήμνου) in the North Aegean region . According to the 2011 census, the island has 16,992 residents. The administrative seat as well as the economic and cultural center of the island is the city of Myrina with more than 5000 inhabitants.
geography
The island of Limnos is located in the North Aegean, between the Athos peninsula in the north-west and the mainland of Asia Minor in the east. The closest islands are Samothrace 42 kilometers north, the Turkish island of Gökçeada 22 kilometers northeast and Agios Efstratios 31 kilometers south.
With an area of 476 square kilometers, Limnos is the ninth largest island in Greece. It reaches its maximum extent of about 35 km in a west-east direction. The north-south extension in the east is from Cape Plaka (Ακρωτήρι Πλάκα) the northeasternmost point of the island to Cape Agia Irini (Ακρωτήρι Αγία Ειρήνη) the southeasternmost 29 km. In the west it is 18 km from Cape Mourtzeflos (Ακρωτήρι Μούρτζεφλος) in the northwest to Cape Tigani (Ακρωτήρι Τηγάνι) in the southwest. The narrowest point of about 4 kilometers lies between the Gulf of Moudros (Κόλπος Μουδρου) in the south and the Gulf of Pournia (Κόλπος Πουρνιας) in the north.
The island has a strongly structured coastline through three bays, with the western main part and two peninsulas in the east and south. The surface is gentle, predominantly flat and without any clear expression of the relative relief . The few hilly areas have either softly rounded shapes or, less often, steep cliffs, depending on the geology and the subsequent erosion. Limnos reaches with the Vigla (Βίγλα) in the northwest 430 meters, in the southeast 250 meters and with the Skopos (Σκοπός) on the peninsula Fakos (χερσόνησος Φακός) 319 meters. The two brackish water lakes Chortarolimni (Χορταρολίμνη) and Asprolimni (Ασπρόλιμνη) as well as the approximately 6.7 km² large salt lagoon Alyki (Αλυκή Λήμνου), the largest on a Greek island, are located in the extensive coastal marshes of the eastern peninsula .
climate
The low amount of precipitation in connection with extreme and frequent winds from north to northeast give Limnos an unmistakable dry mesoclimate. The climate of Limnos is subhumid to almost semi-arid. Average annual rainfall is around 500 millimeters, with a maximum in December and January. In terms of wind exposure, the island occupies a special position. Limnos is located in the extension of the Dardanelles, which are oriented towards the island like a narrow wind tunnel. In the period from 1958 to 2010, the absolute maximum temperature at Limnos Airport was 39.4 ° C and the minimum temperature was −6.0 ° C.
Average monthly temperatures and precipitation for Lemnos International Airport "Hephaestus"
|
mythology
In Greek mythology , Limnos was the island of Hephaestus , who had his forge in the volcanoes of this island . He was especially venerated during an "earth fire" near the town of Hephaisteia in the north of the island. The Kabiren , the sons of Hephaestus, also had their cult here.
Another myth tells of the so-called Lemnian outrage . Accordingly, the women of Limnos killed all men in order to rule for themselves. When they lacked the men to reproduce, they tried to seduce the Argonauts - Heracles was only able to persuade the men to continue with great difficulty . On the campaign against Troy , Philoctetes was left here by the Greeks.
history
The earliest human presence on an Aegean island to date was found in the southeast of Limnos. It dates to the end of the last glacial period about 15,000 years ago. Because of the large number of microliths , the Ouriakos site is interpreted as a storage place for groups of hunters and gatherers .
Due to its location, Limnos played an important role in the Aegean trade since the Early Bronze Age (approx. 3200–2000 BC). The island had a remarkable network of settlements, preferably on peninsulas or low hills near the coast with fertile surrounding areas and safe anchorages. In addition to the two large settlement centers Myrina in the west and Poliochni in the east, settlements existed in all coastal regions with the exception of the northwest. The settlement around the Gulf of Moudros was particularly dense. In contrast to Poliochni, today's island of Koukonisi was continuously populated. Far fewer settlements are known from the interior of the island.
An early mention of the island can be found on linear B tablets from the Mycenaean Pylos . There, the female is Ethnikon ???? ra-mi-ni-ja listed (Lāmniai), proceeds from the that it operated "slaves of Lamnos". From the ethnicon, the Mycenaean name ra-mo-no (Lāmnos) can be deduced for the island.
Around 800 BC BC Limnos was conquered by the Greeks, who were driven out by the Tyrsenians after about 100 years . Only after the conquest by Miltiades (who, in a bizarre way, referred to the "Lemnian sacrilege") towards the end of the 6th century BC. The Greeks were finally able to gain a foothold here.
A grave stele found in 1885 is dated to the time of the Tyrsenian rule , the inscription of which is assigned to the language now called Lemnian and is related to Etruscan . This find revitalized the discussion about the origin of the Etruscans , which had already begun in antiquity , whose work is actually limited to the area between the western Apennine peninsula (starting from Etruria ), Sardinia and Sicily .
Limnos belonged to Athens from the time of the conquest by Miltiades . From the Hellenistic era , the island shared the fate of the rest of Greece.
From 1657 all of Limnos was conquered by the Turks.
20th century
During the First Balkan War , the Greek occupation of strategically important islands in the Northeast Aegean made it possible to block the Dardanelles. According to Tenedos , Limnos was taken between October 21 and 27, 1912 by the Greek fleet supported by infantry units. The capture of Limnos made it possible to control the entry of the Dardanelles and the sea routes in the North Aegean. Two attempts by the Turkish Navy to break this blockade failed because of the superior Greek fleet, led by the armored cruiser Georgios Averoff under Pavlos Koundouriotis . The Battle of Elli on December 3rd jul. / December 16, 1912 greg. and the battle of Limnos on January 5th jul. / January 18, 1913 greg. A four-month inspection of the Dardanelles followed. This practically ended the sea war in the Aegean. According to the London Treaty of 1913, the Ottoman Empire had to cede the islands in the eastern Aegean to Greece on the condition that they were not used for military purposes. These assignments were after the Greek-Turkish War in the Treaty of Lausanne confirmed 1923rd In this treaty, the demilitarization of Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria was expressly stipulated, the islands of Limnos and Samothrace were not mentioned here. The strait statute negotiated at the same time stipulated the demilitarization of the Greek islands of Limnos and Samothraki as well as the Turkish islands of Imroz, Bozcaada (Tenedos) and the Tavşan islands . The Treaty of Montreux , negotiated in 1936, regulates sovereignty over the straits in favor of Turkey. The agreement replaces the Peace Treaty of Lausanne, allowing the straits to be militarized without mentioning the Aegean Islands. After Turkey immediately remilitarized the islands of Bozcaada and Gökçeada, Greece also followed in 1937 with remilitarization measures on Limnos. It was only in 1974, during the Cyprus crisis, that Turkey questioned the legitimacy of the militarization of the Aegean islands, especially Limnos and Samothraki, by Greece.
Administrative division
→ Administrative division of Limnos
With the implementation of the municipal reform according to the Kapodistrias program in 1997, the island of Limnos was divided into four municipalities with a total of 32 municipal districts. On January 1, 2011, the Kallikratis program merged the former municipalities of the island into the newly created municipality of Limnos ( Dimos Limnou Δήμος Λήμνου), the administrative seat is Myrina. The previous municipalities form municipal districts.
Parish | Greek name | code | Area (km²) | 2001 residents | Residents 2011 | City districts / local communities (Δημοτική / Τοπική Κοινότητα) |
location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atsiki | Δημοτική Ενότητα Ατσικής | 550102 | 134.672 | 2,894 | 2,535 | Atsiki, Agios Dimitrios, Varos, Dafni, Karpasi, Katalakko, Sardis | |
Moudros | Δημοτική Ενότητα Μούδρου | 550103 | 185.127 | 4,842 | 3,925 | Moudros, Kalliopi, Kaminia, Kondopouli, Lychna, Panagia, Plaka, Repanidi, Roussopouli, Romanou, Skandali, Fisini | |
Myrina | Δημοτική Ενότητα Μύρινας | 550101 | 82.049 | 7,488 | 8.006 | Myrina, Thanos, Kaspakas, Kornos, Platy | |
Nea Koutali | Δημοτική Ενότητα Νέας Κούταλης | 550104 | 75.735 | 2,880 | 2,526 | Kondias, Angariones, Kallithea, Livadichori, Nea Koutali, Pedino, Portiano, Tsimandria | |
total | 5501 | 477,583 | 18,104 | 16,992 |
places
The main town of Myrina has a population of over 5,000 today, and its history goes back to ancient times. A medieval fortification was built on the ancient Acropolis after the Fourth Crusade , when the island was ruled by Venice , and can still be seen today.
The place Poliochni is around 5,000 years old. Archaeological traces indicate that its founders belonged to the same culture as that of Troy .
The place Moudros ( Greek Μούδρος ) has a good 1,000 inhabitants. Here, on October 31, 1918, the armistice between Turkey and the Entente was signed.
traffic
Limnos has an airport that used 115,000 passengers in 2003.
Popular culture
The island served as a template for the fictional island "Altis" in the 2013 computer game ArmA 3 .
See also
Web links
- Limnos. Aegean Portal (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Results of the 2011 census. ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) ( MS Excel ; 2.6 MB) Greek Statistical Office (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ)
- ↑ Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή [ΕΛΣΤΑΤ] (Ed.): Στατιστική Επετηρίδα της Ελλάδος (Statistical Yearbook of Greece) 2009 & 2010 . Piraeus 2011, p. 47 .
- ↑ 213 Limnos / Agios Efstratios, 1: 50,000 (map) . Road Editions, ISBN 960-8481-93-7 .
- ↑ Nikos Efstratiou, Dimitris Kyriakou (Νίκος Ευστρατίου, Δημήτρης Κυριακού): Στα ίχνη των τελευταίων κυνηγών και τροφοσυλλεκτών της Νοτιοανατολικής Μεσογείου . In: Ανάσκαμμα . tape 5 , 2011, p. 53-74 .
- ↑ Ourania Kouka: Settlement organization in the North and East Aegean during the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) . In: International Archeology . tape 58 . Marie Leidorf Verlag, Rahden 2002, ISBN 3-89646-330-6 , p. 14th ff . (Dissertation, University of Heidelberg, 1996).
- ^ Sarah P. Morris: Potnia Aswiya: Anatolian Contributions to Greek Religion. (PDF) I. Potnia Aswiya at Pylos. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009 ; accessed on May 1, 2015 .
- ^ J. Chadwick: The Mycenaean World. 1979, p. 109 f.
- ^ Richard C. Hall: The Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War . Routledge, 2002, ISBN 0-415-22947-2 , pp. 64 f .
- ^ Fotakis Zisis: Greek Naval Strategy and Policy 1910–1919 . Routledge, 2005, ISBN 0-415-35014-X ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ↑ Article 12, Peace Treaty of Lausanne, July 24, 1923.
- ↑ Article 13, Peace Treaty of Lausanne, July 24, 1923.
- ↑ Christos Rozakis, Petros Stagos: The Turkish Straits . Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1997, ISBN 90-247-3464-9 ( limited preview in Google book search).
- ↑ Rozakis 1997, p. 118 limited preview in the Google book search
- ↑ Rozakis 1997, p. 116 restricted preview in the Google book search