“And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.” – Acts 20:14
The Greek island of Lesvos, also known as Mitylene, was visited by the apostle Paul while returning from his third missionary journey. Leaving Troas, Paul walked the distance to Assos while the rest of his party made the journey by sailing ship. Meeting up in Assos, they sailed the short distance to Mitylene, not more than 30 miles.
Paul and his companions stopped briefly on the island in the year AD 56. From Mitylene, the party sailed near the island of Chios before arriving on the island of Samos.
Molyvos harbor 
Ancient fortress at Molyvos. 
Fresh fish delivered right to your door. 
Fishing boats at Molyvos 
View from Molyvos
Getting there – Lesvos can be reached by ferry boat from Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as from Avalik Turkey. Flights arrive regularly from Athens and Thessaloniki. A great resource that we often use for searching flights is skyscanner.net.
Lesvos during the refugee crisis
The war in Syria sparked a mass migration to Europe, specifically to Germany, following German Chancellor Angela’s Merkel’s invitation in August 2015. Ten’s of thousands made the approximately 2500 mile journey from Turkey to Germany. For many, Lesvos island was their gateway to Europe.
In November 2015 we were living in Sofia Bulgaria. After watching the news reports and reading the headlines surrounding the refugee crisis, my wife asked me if I had thought about going to Lesvos. I responded, “yes, it’s been on my mind, but I didn’t think you would be interested.” Two days later we drove our car from Sofia to Thessaloniki and caught a flight to Mytilene. We witnessed history in the making. The people we met and the things we saw were life changing.
Thank you for sharing. Beautiful, clear pictures. Brings back memories when I was over there.