Sigri

Sigri is built at the westernmost end of the island by the seaside, at a distance of 94 km from Mytilini. Its name may derive either from the Venetian dialect term “siguro” (=secure), or its security from the winds or the malaria shivers (“syngrya”), that plagued the inhabitants here in past centuries. The port is protected by the islets Nisiopi and Sedousa. Its fort built in 1757 by Ottoman Naval Admiral Suleiman Pasha features an Arabic arch and white blocks lining the top of the main entry gate. Besides the well-preserved fort, there is also the Mosque, converted into a Christian church in 1923 and the ruins of a cistern and the Turkish baths. The wider area features the Ypsilou Holy Monastery venerating Aghios Ioannis Theologos (the Divine).

There is also the exquisite sandy beach of Panagia Faneromeni, four km to the north of Sigri.

This town is world-famed for its Petrified Forest and its Museum of Natural History.