Agiassos is a town - too large to call it a village - in South East Lesvos on a slope of Olympos (pronounced Olibos) Mountain. Many tourists visit here, for it preserved well the traditional buildings and style of life.
Besides pleasure tourists, many religious tourists and pilgrims visit this town because of the Panagia Agiassiotissa (left).
The church was founded in 1170, but the present building dates back only to 1814.
It houses a miraculous icon of Virgin Mary. It is said to be made by Luke the Evangelist or painted in the 4th century. It was Agatho the Ephesian who brought it to the island.
There is an ecclesiastical museum inside the precinct (but it was closed when we visited in the afternoon).
This is a shaded passage near the church of Panagia Agiassiotissa.
Agiassos is also famous for production of artisal, hand-craft items, from wood carving and hand painted ceramics to hand-made preserved foods. These shops are around the church and easy to find. I was positively impressed by the eagerness of the sellers.
Another nice feature of Agiassos is the presence of many attractive coffee shops. It was difficult to pick one up.
We decided on this kafenio that looks like both an ancient temple and a bank (architectually speaking it is Neo-Classic in style). An inscription above the entrance that it was sponsored by D. Maliakas. We wondered what was the original pourpose of the building, but the owner (?) told us it was built as kafenio from the start. I found a bit more history
here.
Entrance to the same kafeneio.
Some food we saw in Agiassos.
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| Touloumotyri: white goat cheese fermented in goat skin |
Touloumotyri still in goat skin bag |
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| tyrokafteri made from 5 local cheeses |
Cup shaped trachana (stuffed with tomato and cheese and cooked in oven) |
Reference
- Lesvos : the island of Sappho. Tourbis: Koropi (Athens), 1997, p. 83-85.
- Lesvos Guide. Empros Newspaper: Kara Tepé (Mytilene), [2008?], p. 98-99.
- http://www.anagnostirio.gr/
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