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The village of Sigri is situated in the west of Lesbos. It was described in a travel guide as being the end of the world. This time is in the past now, because in the meantime tourists have discovered the little village of Sigri, and for a good reason, because it is really cute.
Sigri radiates a kind of cozyness, has a couple of nice restaurants, a few good and well maintained beaches (no umbrellas while we were there, but with some trees), a nice church, a beautiful Turkish fortress that is open to the public, and there is a beautiful island in front of the coast. All ingredients for a charming coastal village.
The castle dates from 1557 and is built on the foundations of an earlier Genoese fortress. Until 1922 most of the inhabitants in the village were muslim, but in the population exchange in that year (the Turks went to Turkey and Greeks who lived in Turkey came to Greece), their place was taken by Greek inhabitants from the island of Tenedos.
The square village church dates from 1870. It was built by the Turkish inhabitants and was originally a mosque.
When they left in 1922, they Turkish people took the icons of the church with them. In the absence of a tower the bells were hung in a staircase. In the village there is also a Turkish bathhouse and there are several Turkish water sources.
Most of the houses in Sigri are in a good state and you will not see many delapidated houses as you can sometimes see in some Greek villages.
In the village of Sigri there is also the museum of the petrified forrest (5 euro entrance fee in 2006). Trully recommendable.
Nearby Sigri is a place for the military, so you will see some soldiers while you are there. Some people might even like that, and speaking for myself: it didn't bother me at all.
Personally I thought this was one of the nicest places that I have visited on the island of Lesbos. Thumbs up for Sigri.
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