Lesvos is the third biggest island in the Aegean (after Crete and Evia). Indeed, it is the natural abundance that primarily draws visitors. Hiking the idyllic southern olive groves, the “lava paths” and volcanic geotopes as well as bird-watching – the island is the transit point and home to over 279 species of birds ranging from raptors to waders – are both very popular. Lesvos’ long coastline, hardly touched by package tourism, is dotted with therapeutic hot springs, virtually untouched coastal fishing villages and pristine beaches which range from golden, black or red sand to pebbles of blazing white quartz; lush mountain river valleys around Aghiasos which is surrounded by chestnut groves; traditional villages and brilliant beaches at Drota, Melinda & Eresos. more about Lesvos ….

Culturally, too, Lesvos has gone above and beyond. From the musical composer Terpander and poet Arion of the 7th century BC, to 20th-century figures like Nobel Prize–winning poet Odysseus Elytis and primitive painter Theofilos, the island has given birth to artists of genius. Under the great ancient philosophers Aristotle and Epicurus, an exceptional philosophical academy flourished on the island. Most famous, however, is Sappho, one of ancient Greece’s greatest poets. Her sensuous, passionate poetry, apparently created for a select group of female devotees, has fuelled a modern-day cult that draws lesbians from around the world to pay homage to the poet in Skala Eresou, the west Lesvos beach village where she was born around 630 BC.

Appropriately enough, the stark natural beauty that inspired all these artists and thinkers itself derived from a great event: a massive prehistoric volcanic eruption that buried and transformed its surroundings, making western Lesvos into a treasury of prehistoric fossils and gems, and the unique petrified forest. Do not miss to visit The Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest at Sigri.

After Petrified Forest also the entire Lesvos Island joined In Global Geoparks Network of UNESCO. The inclusion decision was confirmed during the session of UNESCO’s Geoparks Bureau under the 11th European Geoparks Conference held in Arouca, Portugal, from 19 to 21 September 2012.