Ifestia Beaches

In summer Aliki is a big salt lake where you can walk on and a „must see“ destination in Lemnos. During rainy season it gets to a wetland. This wetland of Aliki- Chortarolimni (inbetween Kontopouli and Panagia) acts as a resting and wintering area for many species of migratory birds. The bird fauna of the region consists of more than 30 migratory and endemic species. With good luck you can see quite a number of flamingos.

Near the archaeological site of Kavirio close to the halfway abandoned village Agios Alexandros. The way to Neftina beach leads partly on gravel road that is in poor condition. Neftina is a long sandy beach with clear water. The beach is shallow and ideal for children. There are no taverns or beach chairs. A visit to the beach combines well with a tour to the nearby archaeological sites of Ifestia and the remarkable cave of Philoctetes at Kavirion. A visit there is highly recommended.

The Temple of Kavirio is 3 km from the archaeological site of Ifestia. It is an old sanctuary also dedicated to the Great Gods (Caveiri). Its assumed that the sanctuary of Kavirio was founded around the 6th or 7th century BC and hence is older than the famous Sanctuary in Samothrace where these particular gods were also worshipped. After visiting the site you should definitely have a look at the “Cave of Philoktetis” which is directly below the excavation site. According to mythology, this is the place where the Homeric hero Odysseus, on the way to the Trojan War, had left behind his comrade Philoktetis who was bitten by a snake, in the hope of a cure. It is said that he owed his recovery due to the therapy with the famous “healing earth” of Lemnos. This earth was a major export of Lemnos especially in Roman times but was in use till the 19th century. It was mined near an extinct volcano. This mountain in the mythology was the workshop of the gods blacksmith Hephaestus.

The beach is near the villages of Plaka and Panagia and is popular for locals but especially for wind surfers. It is the No.2 meeting place for the surfers after Keros Beach. It is a quiet sandy beach and partly organized with umbrellas, beach chairs and a beach bar.

The ancient site of Ifestia, located near the village Kontopouli, was from the Neolithic to the early Christianity an important religious centre. The excavations show remains of a large settlement, with ruins of a castle, a cemetery, a baths, an Hellenistic theatre and a temples of the mysterious, once only on Lemnos and its neighbouring island of Samothrace manicured worship of Cabeiri, a “Sanctuary of the Great Gods”. The identity and nature of the deities venerated at the sanctuary remains largely enigmatic, in large part because it was taboo to pronounce their names. Literary sources from antiquity refer to them under the collective name of "Cabeiri", while they carry the simpler epithet of Great Gods, which was a title or state of being rather than the actual name. The cult of the Great Gods existed in ancient Greece as one of several mystery cults in addition to the worship of the Olympian deities. Mystery cults are cults or religion whose religious doctrines and rites are kept secret from outsiders. The inclusion in such a community of worship was usually carried out by special initiation rites. Because the mystery cults have broadly maintained their secrets, their myths and rites are hardly reconstructed and there are only a lot of conjectures based on ancient writings and archaeological finds. The sanctuary was destroyed by the Persians in 511 BC. The Athenians conquered Lemnos in the early 5th century and rebuilt Ifestia again, but introduced their politically democratic system. In the early Byzantine period Ifestia was abandoned because the natural harbour silted up due to continuous soil erosion and developing Christianity was averse to the old mystery cult.

The beach is in the picturesque bay of Kotinas with its small fishing port and the very interesting Chapel on a small hill. Under the chapel you go down into a cave. In the bay there are good restaurants and the beach is equipped with beach chairs, umbrellas and beach bar. The bay is one of the "must see" places in Lemnos!