Kontopouli

Kontopouli owes its name to the Byzantine landowner Kontopoulos. Its first residents came from Hephaistia, Kotsinas, and Agios Hypatios. During the occupation, Kontopouli suffered at the hands of the German troops, who caused many destructions to schools and other public buildings, plundered the property of both poor and wealthy, and held hostages. The Kontopouli military unit was among the last to leave Lemnos in 1944. During the civil-war period, the poet Yannis Ritsos lived in Kontopouli as an exile, and he mentions it in his works. In 1948, he composed here The Smoky Pot and two Exile Diaries. Noteworthy sights include the church of St. Demetrios, the church of St. Anastasia and the underground hagiasma, the carved stone fountain, the archaeological site of Hephaistia, the archaeological site of the Kabeirion, and Alyki (wetland).