Lesvos TRADITION
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PhotoThe island of Lesvos is of unique architectural beauty. The facade of the houses is decorated with lovely laced banisters, while the old mansions have Ionian or Dorian columns, pediments, monumental fronts and arched curves decorated with archaic statuettes. The people of Lesvos are deeply influenced by tradition. In many villages, there is a Christmas olive twig, instead of a tree, while on New Year's day, the youngsters bring water from the springs without talking, and they sprinkle it in the houses for luck. In other villages, on New Year's day, men break a pomegranate at the house's entrance, while holding an iron. The pomegranate symbolizes wealth and prosperity, while the iron symbolizes health. In Plomari, people hang olive twigs on the doors, so as to have a good olive production that year. At Easter, the Archbishop drinks wine from a silver cup which he throws at the crowd afterwards. Whoever catches the cup wins a prize and Easter eggs. The people of Lesvos love music. At the feasts, the folk groups play cheerful music, while the youngsters dance local dances, such as "Lesviakos", "Mitilinaikos" and "Balos", imitating the love game of the pagons. Coats, furs, embroidered women costumes, silk, woven fabrics, embroidery, and colourful underwear are part of the traditional costume of Lesvos. The locals are occupied with ceramics, wood-carving and copper-plating. In the townlet of Agiassos, masterpieces are made of clay, and olive-wood. Visitors should also admire the craftworks of semi-precious stones and silver, "velentzes", white embroidery, rugs and hand-made baskets. Ever since antiquity, Lesvos has flourished in the field of literature. This was the homeland of Pittacus, one of the seven sages, of Arion (the famous guitarist and poet), of the poets Sappho and Alkaios, as well as of the creator of choro drama, Terpandors. Other people of Lesvos who became famous in recent years are: Argiris Eftaliotis, Stratis Mirivilis, Ilias Venezis, Nobel prize winning poet Odysseas Elitis and painter Theophilos.


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