Vroskopos
Encyclopedia
Voroskopos is a settlement in the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 island of Lemnos
Lemnos
Lemnos is an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos peripheral unit, which is part of the North Aegean Periphery. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina...

, it is in the municipal unit of Moudros
Moudros
Moudros is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula of the island, with a land area of 185.127 km²,...

 and the community of Kaminia
Kaminia, Lemnos
Kaminia is a village in the northeast of the Greek island of Lemnos. It is a community of the municipal unit of Moudros. From 1918 until 1998, it was a community. The 2001 population was 319 for the village and 347 for the municipal district. It is located in the southeastern peninsula of the...

. The 2001 population was 28 for the settlement. Its origin of the name comes from a cape in Lemnos next to where it is built. In its beach founded the prehistoric city of Poliochne
Poliochne
Poliochne was a settlement on the east coast of the island of Lemnos, settled in the Late Chalcolithic and earliest Aegean Bronze Age, believed to be one of the most ancient towns in Europe, preceding Troy I. Anatolian features of the earliest layers were affected by cultural influences from...

.

Nearest places

  • Kaminia
    Kaminia, Lemnos
    Kaminia is a village in the northeast of the Greek island of Lemnos. It is a community of the municipal unit of Moudros. From 1918 until 1998, it was a community. The 2001 population was 319 for the village and 347 for the municipal district. It is located in the southeastern peninsula of the...

    , northwest
  • Agia Sofia
    Agia Sofia, Lemnos
    Agia Sofia is a settlement in the Greek island of Lemnos. It is in the municipal unit of Moudros. Its 2001 population was 61 for the settlement.-Population:-History:The village was first mentioned for the first time in 1313 in a document....

    , south

Nomenclature

The name Vroskopos or Voroskopos (Βοροσκόπος), Vyroskopos and Viroskopos was mentioned for the first time froma Florentine
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 cleric, geographer and traveller Chr. Boundelmenti in a map that united the part of his travels in 1418.

The name is mainly older from 1418. From that sourced without another and its etymology according with the communication wiith the philologist Manolis Rokkos in the first Onomatological Council (Myrina
Myrina
Myrina may refer to:*Myrina, Greece, capital of the Greek island of Lemnos*Myrina , ancient city on the coast of Mysia *Myrina , name of several female characters in Greek mythology...

, 1991). He wrote:

The name derived from the epithet evrys and the noun skopos which forms Evryskopos (Ευρύσκοπος) - Voroskopos and means the location where it observe any widen (around) the area.

Analogously the name Skopos and Skopia which are on the island derive from the Ancient Greek words, according to the same source. The derivation that accords, that the area presents a continuous population from the ancient era until today and it never deserted from a large chronic space.

Ancient era

It had a population area in the area of Vroskopos and had from the prehistoric years. As much as the Neolithic age and its first Bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 and settled by the coast a settlement which changed into a flourishing city. It source that Poliochne, its rubble that consisted in the 1930s. Poliochni flourished in around two millennia. It was ruined by a large earthquake and continued to decadence until its loss in the mid 2nd millennium BC
2nd millennium BC
The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age.Its first half is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. The alphabet develops. Indo-Iranian migration onto the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent propagates the use of the chariot...

.

As it sourced from an ancient artifacts that did not had the running of a settlement around the area and during the Pelasgian
Pelasgians
The name Pelasgians was used by some ancient Greek writers to refer to populations that were either the ancestors of the Greeks or who preceded the Greeks in Greece, "a hold-all term for any ancient, primitive and presumably indigenous people in the Greek world." In general, "Pelasgian" has come...

 (ancient) or during the Athenian
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 (classical eras), the era in Lemnos. As from the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 period in the greater area, it founded a sparsely built settlement in the nearby slopey hull Paracheiri or Parahiri (Παραχείρι)

In the next centuries, lifestyle continued to its locality without running an administrative settlement.

Medieval era

Measurably the epicenter of a small beach settlement founded by its coastline above the ruins of Poliochne and presented two basic buildings. It was a good location for the running of a port and located near the sloped hill.

That settlement in Vroskopos from the 11th until the 13th centuries was correcly from the tombs they had from that time. The tombs were founded in the ground of Poliochne's hill and had bronze jewers. Sources that ceremonial sporadic settling in the Byzantine era
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 founded in 1991 and slightly north at the Skin Hill (Dermata Hill) near Agia Triada.

On its continued pirate attacks in the coastline that the area boarded a small settlement, its residents had a cemetery on Poliochne's hill.

For the direction of the settlement built on a small outpost. It was unpopular that was built but believe to be around 1207 and 1214 when the Venetians
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

 built many outposts and Lemnos Castle even the anchorage. It did not feature that it had a rubble of a Byzantine outpost.

The remains of the castle were found by German archaeologist Conze in 1858, when he visited the area, he wrote:

Down below, passed several groves that called Voroskopoos near a speing, to the left, a road that had a grove, to the right, several rubbles from a Medieval outpost.

Settlement and outpost

On a 15th century map by Chr. Boundelmonti, the name Voroskopos meant an inland area and not the coast. It had plains that had an inland settlement (probably Kaminia
Kaminia, Lemnos
Kaminia is a village in the northeast of the Greek island of Lemnos. It is a community of the municipal unit of Moudros. From 1918 until 1998, it was a community. The 2001 population was 319 for the village and 347 for the municipal district. It is located in the southeastern peninsula of the...

) which had its own port in a nearby sea area of Vroskopos. The cartographer, famed the settlement's name, it was called Voroskopos from the cape name and its port which was popular in the navy of that time.

The same mistake made and the posterior travellers, as the French L. De Launay that he name Voroskopo in 1894 as well as its cape and the inland village (especially Kaminia).

Around 1520, Piri Reis came to Limnos, a Turkish navy and a geographer of the Sultan. He mentioned that the area had shallow water of Skala and had an abandoned outpost, Burun Hisar (Castle of the Cape), its population shifted and settled into the outpost Baly Kesti during Bayazit II's rule (1481–1512). Burun Hisar was founded in Vroskopos and believed that was known today as Pyrgoi around Goudla (Γούδλα') in Fissini.

Around the late 15th century its coastal inhabitants of the area left and Vroskopos became deserted. It was believed that had happened, several decades earlier, in 1470 as the coast of east Lemnos was invaded by a strong battle with 300 troops and moved into the Skala's bank, the entire outposts in the area even Vroskopos was mentioned by the Turks. It suffered damages and its residents that fled were annihilated. Later in 1509, a large earthquake ruined the bank of Kalliopi
Calliope (disambiguation)
Calliope is the muse of epic poetry in Greek mythology.Calliope, Kalliope or Kalliopi may also refer to:-Music:* Calliope , a musical instrument* Calliope , a band based in New York City...

 and eastern Lemnos.

Vroskopos meant and other travellers as the settlement was in its outpost location (castle).

On H. Petri's map in 1571, it had a seaside settlement on the island's cast coast next to Skala bank, without being name. It said that for Vroskopos it was the nearby Agiomarino (Αγιομάρνο).

On Ortelius' map in 1584, it had a based recorded by a French traveller P. Belon, it had another source for Vroskopos. It meant as a seaside settlement with the name Voroscopo between the banks of Skala it was located southward into the settlement Sotira (Σωτήρα) which located northward. The correct depiction had in a map that was made by Belon in 1588, the third edition of his book.

In 1638 and 1650 mentioned by a map from Johann Laurenberg as Vroscopus and a 1650 map listed as a castle with a nearby settlement. In the late 16th century, the Turks visited the outposts of the island, as Velon in 1588 and Laurenberg in 1650 founded the castle's location of Vroskopos.

Later around the 16th century and the early 17th century, the port was as its height, naturally always in the area with a cobbled port of Skala founded northward. It had brought passnevers and merchandise. It shipped oil from Lesbos and Aivali, grapes from Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

, marbles from Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

 and brought wine, wheat, ceramic, skin, hair, cheese and pasta.

The rise and fall

The Venetian-Turkish War began (1645–69) and the Venetians ruled Lemnos for a short time between 1656 and 1657. It had large damages and ruined the island's outposts. They prepared for destruction of its castle.

From then Vroskopos was mentioned as a cape and its port, not the settlement. Its name that had in it sources and its map from different travellers. In 1685, an anonymous German mentioned as Vrosco, in 1688, a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 doctor Olfred Dapper mentioned it as Vroscopos, a French diplomat Choisseul-Gouffier mentioned it as Vroskopos in 1785 with its ruined castle.

Even as the whole island, its seaside villages were abandoned in the 17th century and the same happening with Vroskopos from a fear of pirates. From then, during the night brought its inhabitants into the sea with their boats and only by its coast.

Until 1656, Vroskopos was an important settlement in the area, apartly it had an inland settlement Kaminia and a small farm settlement around the area. Belon listed that it had 75 villages on the island in 1548 and a predominant security and peace. Lemnos was not as much as arable, it was more bitterly known. Argyrios Moschidis wrote that its residents took courage, they came from the outpost and ruled a settlement with a few valleys. Apart, it featured a castle and fled from its pirate attacks.

Πάντως σε όλο το νησί, τα παραλιακά χωριά εγκαταλείφθηκαν κατά το 17ο αιώνα και το ίδιο συνέβη και με το Βρόσκοπο από το φόβο της πειρατείας. Από τότε, μόνο τη νύχτα τολμούσαν οι κάτοικοι να βγουν στη θάλασσα με τις βάρκες τους και μόνο κοντά στις ακτές.

In the early 17th century, piracy saw a large exaltation. W. Lithgow wrote in 1609 that when he visited Lemnos, its residents were inside day and night in its mountain peaks and localized its pirate ships. It mentioned 15 pirate attacks in 1611 in the island's sea area.

In the mid and late 17th century, Vroskopos suffered a nearby damage (1656 and 1698) and abandoned entirely. Its population moved to the hear of the island and the area became Kaminia which was founded in a safe area with a view of the sea.

Modern period

In the mid 20th century, Vroskopos was next to the village of Kamini. It had until today a fishing port for its residetns. It had a small chapel and an old monastery. It had agricultural farmland that used small barns and groves for its animals.

From the 1930s, excavation of Poliochne began and had a prehistoric centre. Its excavations continued after the war and the area becgan to develop around the area. In the lat 1980s, it ran an archeological village with a small kiosk. It had a building for archeologist's artifacts that worked in the village.

Apart from the surrounding area, it featured toruism. Houses were built and had its only inhabitants, its road paved and connected the settlement with the main road, the port was built and renovated the nearby beach Kokkinovrachos with a visited beach.

Vroskopos is recognized as a separate settlement of the municipal district of Kaminia with 28 people.

Timeline

  • Prehistoric period: Poliochne
    Poliochne
    Poliochne was a settlement on the east coast of the island of Lemnos, settled in the Late Chalcolithic and earliest Aegean Bronze Age, believed to be one of the most ancient towns in Europe, preceding Troy I. Anatolian features of the earliest layers were affected by cultural influences from...

    .
  • Ancient times: Rise of the settlement.
  • 1207-1214: Building of a Venetian castle.
  • 1418: Voroskopos first mentioned.
  • 1470: Attack by the Turks in Skala. Its residents fled.
  • 1481-1512: Shifting of the population to Baly Kesri.
  • Late 16th century: Construction of its castle.
  • 1584, 1588, 1638, 1650: Mentionings of the settlement and the castle Voroscopo or Vroscopus.
  • 1656-57: Ruins of an outpost by the Venetians, its settlement deserted
  • 1685, 1688: the location of Vrosco and Vroscopos without its castle and its settlement.
  • 1785: Deserted castle in Vroskopos
  • 1858: Ruins of a medieval outpots, a few groves in Vroskopos.
  • 1930-36 and 1951-56: Excavations in Poliochne
  • 2001: The settlement Vroskopos with 28 inhabitants.

See also

  • List of places in the Lesbos prefecture
  • Administrative divisions of the Lesbos prefecture

Sources

  • Vassiliki Tourptsoglou-Stefanidou: Journeys and Geographic Sources of the Island of Lemnos (15th-20th Centuries)
  • Belitsos, Theodoros, Lemnos and its villages by Th. Belitsos 1994.
  • Lemnos/Limnos Province CD ROM (Cdrom Επαρχείου Λήμνου = CD ROM Eparcheiou Limnou): Lovable Lemnos
  • Belitsos, Theodoros: Lemnos and its villages, 1994
  • Belitsos, Theodoros: Kaminia in Lemnos, 2004
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