Ancient Antissa

The dominion of ancient Antissa with an area 232 sq. k. approximately, was demarcated on the west by the area of Sigri and to the southwest extended up to Parakoila. The city was built on a peninsula of the northern coast, 16 km southwest from Mithymna. After mapping the overall area, German archeologist Robert Koldeway was the first researcher to identify ancient Antissa with Ovriokastro. The city’s urban area comprised the expanse occupied by the medieval castle at the tip of the peninsula and by a hill said to be the acropolis. The town’s port was outside the city boundaries. In Byzantine times on the site of ancient Antissa the castle of Aghioi Theodoroi or Ovriokastro was built. Aghioi Theodoroi was the third fortified castle on the island in terms of defense strength after the Mytilini and the Molyvos Castles. Judging from the ruins, the walls seemed to be very tall. The seaside parts of the wall were reinforced with square towers. The interior part of the Castle seems to have contained buildings which demonstrate that Aghioi Theodoroi was an enclosed town. In 1931-2 English archeologist Winifred Lamb dug probing trenches in the ancient Antissa area. She arrived at the conclusion that this location was first inhabited in the Late Bronze Age, in the last few centuries of the second millennium BC. This town has steadily been inhabited ever since.