Neohori

Neohori is located in the southern part of Lesvos at an altitude of 326 m, 56 km from Mytilini and 15 km from Plomari. It is built on a steep, vegetated hill with olive trees and fresh running water flowing from basement spaces (“katogi”) and the house yards. It was initially called Boró and was inhabited by settlers from Megalohori in order to avoid the pirate menace; they too had to build a village not easily detected from seafaring pirates. The initial name derived from the sea salt (“bouró”) deposited from evaporating water on the rocks. Neohori is the town’s name given in the twentieth century. Houses are usually built with stone and ceramic roof tiles. Kaliamás (or Prionas) River flows just downhill from the village. Going uphill one sees the village’s old olive press built in 1909. It is now the Olive Museum preserving its traditional architecture and all the press machinery that were operating here for more than 70 years.