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The castle
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The Castle of Mytilene, one of the largest of its kind in the Mediterranean, occupies the summit of a small hill in the north-eastern section of the peninsula where the city is built. It is divided into the Upper, Middle and Lower Castle. The first construction phase dates from the time of Justinian , and consists largely of reused ancient materials. Remains from the Byzantine phase are limited to a small gate on the north side of the wall, the east wall of the central fortified enclosure and the cistern in the Middle Castle.

The castle owes its basic ground plan to Francesco Gattilusio, a Genoese merchant who was given the island of Lesbos in 1355 as dowry on marrying Maria Palaeologina, sister of Emperor John V Palaeologus. Gattulusio’s first works project was to reconstruct and strengthen the castle, as is evident from a Latin inscription above the west gate dated 1373. A powerful earthquake in 1384 caused significant damage to the castle. General restoration works were carried out by the last Gattilusio in the second half of the 15th century, when the castle was reinforced with ramparts, moats, battlements, watchtowers and cannons. The Ottoman conquest of Mytilene in 1462 ushered in a new building phase for the fortified enclosure, with extensive repairs and modifications being made in the early 16th century. The external wall was extended and the Lower Castle added in the 17th century, during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Khan.

The castle walls are irregularly shaped and enclose an area of ​​approximately 60 acres, on which abundant remains of buildings from different periods are still to be found. In the Upper Castle these include the gunpowder magazine and the ruins of a Turkish mosque, near which there is a sarcophagus with the coats of arms of the Gatellusi and Palaeologus families. The same part of the castle contains the famed Queen’s Tower, consisting of five towers and a moat around a large courtyard and two rooms, probably the official living quarters in the Byzantine castle. Access to the Middle Castle is gained via the Orta Kapou Gate; surviving buildings include the Mendreses (a 16th century seminary), the prison complex, and the Byzantine period water tank.


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