When you decide to have a holiday in Greece, you have two main choices. You can either go for the mainland or choose one of the delightful islands that are dotted around it.

One of these is Lesvos, and it has plenty to recommend it – not least the city of Mytilini. This is one of the main locations on the island and anyone flying there for a holiday will land at Mytilini Airport. Also known as Mytilene, it is worth spending a day or so in the area before you head off to other parts of Lesvos to enjoy your holiday there.

For starters Mytilene is an ancient location, a city pre-dating modern times by some considerable margin. The city has been the main capital of the island ever since the seventh century, so you can see it has a depth of history that is quite prevalent in Greece. Methymna was the other location that fought in a head to head battle – metaphorically speaking – with Mytilene to become known as the main city on the island. But clearly the latter won, and is still an important location there today.

One thing that is very noticeable in Mytilene is the number of students there. It is a popular area today and it is hard sometimes to look back and see just how long Mytilene’s history actually is. Even Aristotle lived in the area for a short while around the year 337BC, so you can see that it has an association with famous names from history as well.

Other names including Sappho, the famous poet, are also associated with the city, but perhaps the most important and fascinating thing of all is how it has developed throughout time. Given enough time to explore the city in more detail, you can learn a lot about how Mytilene has changed over time. It still remains as the capital of Lesvos though, and it welcomes many tourists to the island throughout the year. With the airport very close to the main city itself, you can get a bird’s eye view of it as you come in to land in Lesvos.