# Visiting Mytilene, Greece: Top Sights on Foot **Things to Do in Mytilene: Best Places to See and Explore** Mytilene is the vibrant capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, sitting on its southeastern edge as the administrative, commercial, and cultural heart of the North Aegean Region. Founded all the way back in the 11th century BC, this historic port city is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the Aegean, home to around 31,700 residents. Exploring the city reveals a layered history shaped by Byzantine rulers, the Gattilusio family, and centuries of Ottoman heritage alongside ancient Roman engineering. To help you discover the city at your own pace, Neywo offers a free audio guide for Mytilene featuring 21 narrated places available in 11 languages. ## What to See in Mytilene ### Castle of Mytilene Sitting in the capital of Lesbos, the Castle of Mytilene is one of the largest castles in the Mediterranean and remains in remarkably good condition. Its earliest confirmed construction dates back to the 6th century during the reign of Emperor Justinian I, though it owes much of its current form to Francesco I Gattilusio and his successors who ruled from 1355 to 1462, followed by centuries of Ottoman rule until 1912. Visitors can spot Byzantine remnants like a northern gate and central enclosure walls alongside Ottoman additions including a bathhouse, a tekke, a medrese, a gunpowder magazine, and a military hospital. ### Valide Mosque Located in Epano Skala, the former Muslim quarter of Mytilene, the Valide Mosque is the oldest Ottoman mosque on the island. Completed in 1615, this single-story stone structure with a pitched roof was abandoned in the 1920s following the Balkan Wars and the Greco-Turkish population exchange. Following a restoration funded through the Recovery and Resilience Fund, the mosque now hosts an exhibition dedicated to the history and daily life of Ottoman Mytilene between 1462 and 1912. ### Yeni Mosque and Çarşı Hamam Standing in the Epano Skala neighborhood, the Yeni Mosque was built in 1825 by local governor Mustafa Agha Koulaxiz at the center of the Ottoman-era market. Although currently in partial ruins with a collapsed roof, its stone and tiled dome design reflects a blend of Byzantine and Ottoman architectural elements. Right in the heart of the market area, the adjacent Çarşı Hamam served as the main bathhouse for the community. Built in the first quarter of the 19th century as part of the Yeni Mosque complex, its layout follows the classic three-part procession from cold to warm to hot rooms. ### Church of Saint Symeon Set in the old market area of Mytilene, the Church of Saint Symeon stands on ground that has been sacred for well over a thousand years, dating back to a 6th and 7th-century necropolis. Documented in church archives around 1700, the original building was badly damaged by a devastating earthquake in 1867, leading to the construction of the current church between 1885 and 1891. ### Fykiotripa Lighthouse Perched on a tilted rock on the outer edge of Mytilene, Fykiotripa is a small lighthouse built in the late 1880s to help ships navigate the narrow strait between Lesbos and Asia Minor. The striking rock formation resembles an overturned stone boat. During the Nazi occupation, the lighthouse served as a military outpost and a site of tragedy for executed resistance fighters, and later housed the local Sea Scout System until the mid-1960s. ### Moria Aqueduct Located near the village of Moria, this impressive Roman-era engineering feat stretched for about 26 kilometers across the island to carry water from the northern side of Mount Olympos to ancient Mytilene. Built between the second and third centuries, the aqueduct combined tunnel sections and arched segments made from local grey marble to maintain a steady gradient over rugged terrain. ## Explore Mytilene with a Self-Guided Walking Tour The best way to experience the city is on a Mytilene self-guided walking tour that brings its history to life as you walk. Download Neywo to explore the streets with an audio guide. The app features 1 walking tour: "Ottoman Mytilene: Mosques, Baths and a Gattilusio Castle", a 2.14 km walk taking about 70 minutes across 6 narrated stops including the Valide Mosque, Church of Saint Symeon, Yeni Mosque, Çarşı Hamam, Castle of Mytilene, and Fykiotripa. Each story plays automatically as you reach the place, allowing you to move at your own pace with no group and no schedule. Beyond Lesbos, you can also plan your travels to other destinations across the country, including [Thessaloniki](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/thessaloniki.md), [Athens](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/attica/athens.md), [Ioannina](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/ioannina.md), [Kalabaka](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/kalabaka.md), and [Parga](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/parga.md) in [Greece](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece.md). ## Places with an audio guide in Mytilene 8 places in Mytilene with a Neywo audio guide. Each one starts telling its story as you reach it. - Castle of Mytilene - Valide Mosque, Mytilene - Yeni Mosque - Çarşı Hamam, Mytilene - Ouzo museum - Mytilene - St. Raphael Monastery - Fikiotripa ## Self-guided tours in Mytilene 1 tour in Mytilene, free in the Neywo app. Each stop tells its story as you reach it. - [Ottoman Mytilene: Mosques, Baths and a Gattilusio Castle](https://app.neywo.com/tours/mytilene/ottoman-mytilene-mosques-baths-and-a-gattilusio?lang=en) — Walk, 2.1 km · 70 min · 6 stops: Valide Mosque, Mytilene, Church of Agios Symeon Mytilene, Yeni Mosque, Çarşı Hamam, Mytilene, Castle of Mytilene, Fikiotripa ## Walk Mytilene with Neywo Neywo turns Mytilene into a self-guided audio tour. Stories arrive as you reach the place they belong to, and the route reshapes when you wander off it. ## More in Greece - [Parga](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/parga.md) - [Sparta](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/sparta.md) - [Thessaloniki](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/thessaloniki.md) - [Ioannina](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/ioannina.md) - [Kalabaka](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/kalabaka.md) - [Kalamata](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/kalamata.md) ## Elsewhere in Greece - [Athens](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/attica/athens.md) — Attica - [Piraeus](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/attica/piraeus.md) — Attica - [Poros](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/attica/poros.md) — Attica - [Chania](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/crete/chania.md) — Crete - [Heraklion](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/crete/heraklion.md) — Crete - [Rethymno](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/crete/rethymno.md) — Crete - [Corfu](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/ionian-islands/corfu.md) — Ionian Islands - [Lefkada](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/ionian-islands/lefkada.md) — Ionian Islands - [Zakynthos](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/ionian-islands/zakynthos.md) — Ionian Islands - [Chora](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/south-aegean/chora.md) — South Aegean - [Kefalos](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/south-aegean/kefalos.md) — South Aegean - [Kos Town](https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/south-aegean/kos-town.md) — South Aegean --- HTML: https://neywo.com/destinations/greece/mytilene App: https://app.neywo.com Español: https://neywo.com/es/destinations/greece/mytilene.md Français: https://neywo.com/fr/destinations/greece/mytilene.md Deutsch: https://neywo.com/de/destinations/greece/mytilene.md