Varos

The toponym of the village Varos is mentioned as early as the 15th century, but its origin remains unknown. Formerly, the village was located 500 meters southwest of its current position, on the slope of the hill “St’vanos” facing Moudros Bay, where the settlement of Anemoessa lies today. Due to the danger of pirates, the inhabitants moved it to the valley between the hills Plagia and Lagada. Above the village is the height “Despotis,” probably named after the island’s administrator, who in the late Byzantine period bore the title “Despot of Lemnos” and from the hill oversaw the extraction site of Lemnian earth. There is a remnant of a volcanic crater there, identified with the Mosychlos volcano of ancient sources. A petrified tree has also been found in the area.