Plaka was established during the last century. Northeast of the village
is the cape of Vriokastro or Palaiokastro, where Kritovoulos the Imbrian disembarked
when the island was occupied by the Turks. In the reefs of Mythones an ancient
town is sunk. The ruins of the houses and the paved roads are well distinguished
under the sea level. It is believed that this town is Homeric Chryssi which was
sunk in 197 B.C. according to Pausanias. In this town, according to mythology
the snake bit Philoctetes, the hero of the Trojan war. The most beautiful of the
correlated traditions believes that Philoctetes was cured by the clay which exists
at the site Roussounia, near Aghios Charalambos. This clay was quite effective
for those who suffered form rheumatisms. The Christian view states that the root
of the tree that exists near Aghios Charalambos came alone form the sea with the
icon of the saint on it. From this root - it never gets rotten although it is
always wet - sacred water is derived.
This text (extract) is cited June 2003 from the Lemnos
Provincial Government tourist pamphlet (1997).
