The village of Moudros until 1914 constituted a municipality. It still
is the economic center of eastern Limnos. The village is first referred to in
1355. Around 1380 it belonged to the
Monastery
of Vatopedion of
Mount Athos.
During the 18th century two castles were preserved here. The one of Moudros and
another one given to the
Monastery
of Vatopedion in 1362 by the Great Military Commander of
Limnos,
Georgios Astras. Today two churches exist in Moudros: Taxiarches, probably built
in 1370 and Evangelistrias, built in 1904. Moudros owes its importance especially
to the port. It is one of the best natural ports in the Mediterranean if not the
best. The gulf of Moudros protected from the northern winds and the streams coming
from
Dardanellia, is navigable
even by large ships. During the Balkan wars, the gulf was used as a starting point
from Pavlos Koudouriotis. During 1914-1916 it constituted one of the nautical
bases for the alliances in the enterprises of
Kallipolis
and those of
Dardanellia.
Moudros also served as an anchorage for about 500 ships and as much as 30.000
soldiers camped here. Their presence contributed to the trade flourish. Coming
out of Moudros, on the road to
Roussopouli,
is the alliance cemetery. Many victims of the 1st World War were buried here in
clusters depending upon their nationality.
This text (extract) is cited June 2003 from the Lemnos
Provincial Government tourist pamphlet (1997).
