Mitilini is the main port and metropolis of the island, home to about 25000, sprawls between and around two broad bays divided by a fortified promontory, and in Greek fashion often doubles as the name of the island it self. The main street, Ermou, links the town centre with the little- used north harbour and crumbed breakwater of Epano Skala, following the course of a canal that used to join the two ports until the Byzantine era. Beginning at one of the more vivid fish markets in the Aegean, Ermou forges north past several antique shops and the Yeni Tzami (New Mosque), once heart of the Muslim citizens. Just few steps east stand a superb Turkish hamam restored to its former glory. Between Ermou and the castle a maze of atmospheric lanes lined with grandiose Belle Époque mansions and elderly vernacular houses, though most of the ornate town houses are to be found in the southerly districts of Souradha and Kioski, on the way from Mitlini to the airport.A city with a great history.
Mitilini’s skyline is dominated by two churches standing at opposite ands of the marketplace: the Germanic-Gothic spire of Agios Theodhoros and the mammary, Sacra - Coeur- ish dome of Agios Therapon are imposing if contrasting expressions of the nineteenth-century Ottoman-Greek bourgeoisie’s post-Baroque taste. The well-lit and well-laid-out Byzantine Art Museum, just behind Agios Therapon, contains various icons rescued from rural island churches. On the promontory between the bays sits the Byzantine-Genoese-Ottoman fortress, its mixed pedigree reflected in the Ottoman-Turkish inscription immediately above the Byzantine double eagle at the southern outer gate. Inside you can make out the ruins, variously preserved, of the Gatteluzzi palace a Turkish medresse (Koran academy), a dervish cell and a Byzantine cistern. Just below the fortress, at Tsamakia is the town beach. Tucked away on the westerly hill, the Hellenistic theatre proves resoundingly anticlimactic on arrival; most of its masonry was pilfered for use in the castle to plaster in Ottoman lime kilns.
Mytilini’s excellent archaeological collection is a must see, is housed in two separate galleries a few hundred meters apart. The newer, upper museum is devoted to finds from wealthy Roman Mytilene, in particular rooms of well-displayed mosaics from second and third century AD villas – highlights are a scene of Orpheus charming all manner of beasts, and two fishermen surrounded by sea creatures. Earlier eras are represented in the older wing housed in a former mansion just behind the ferry dock. Te ground floor is Neolithic finds from Agios Vartholomeos cave and Bronze Age Thermi, but the star, late Classical exhibits upstairs include minutely detailed terracotta figurines. A specially build annex at the rear contains stone –cut inscriptions of various edicts and treaties, plus a Roman sculpture of a drunken satyr asleep on a wineskin. With the University of Aegean in residence, Mytilini Mytilene Lesvos can offer decent nightlife entertainment, especially along the northeast quay, which the student’s contingent has claimed as their own.
The first architectural phase of the theatre is dated to the early Hellenistic period, as is suggested by the figurines and architectural parts which were found either in situ or as spolia used in the masonry of the castle. The theatre was remodelled in the late Roman period. The horseshoe-shaped cave would have a capacity of about 10.000 people. Plutarch, in the life of Pompeius (Pompeius, 42) informs us that the Roman general admired the theatre of Mytilene and reproduced its plan in the theatre that he built in Rome in 55 B.C. The first excavations on the site were carried out in 1928 by D. Evangelides, who resumed the investigation in 1958, especially in the area of the orchestra and the scene. The site was cleared and drawn in 1967. 
Is situated at the old Turkish quarter of the city. The inscription plate mentions that the mosque was built in 1615 and thus it constitutes one of the oldest Islamic temples in Mytilene. It is built with stones and has one storey. A marble staircase (with three steps) led to the front yard that was paved with stones. In the middle of the front yard there was a multilateral fountain made of white marble and decorated with engraved arabesques. In the interior, the roof bore colourful decoration, which -after the Turks withdrawal - was covered with brown colour. 
Yeni Tzami (Mosque) is located in the middle of an area that in the past constituted the Turkish market, in Mytilene. It was built by Naziri Moustafa Aga Koulaxizi in the third decade of the 19th century and constitutes the biggest as well as the most recent Islamic temple of the city. Its architectural type is based on that of an aisle less cruciform, with an upper floor in the north side. In its interior, parts of an initially rich mural decoration can still be seen. In summers the mosque functions as an exhibition place for the work of mainly Lesbians artists. 
