Antissa is one of the best and most interesting of the traditional mountain villages of Lesvos. Almost completely undeveloped Antissa sits on the side of a mountain and is the regional center for the villages of Vatousa, Xidera, Gavatha, Liota, Rema, Zithra and Pterounda. There is a large and beautiful platia with not one, but three enormous platanos trees that make the village a very cool place to come on a hot afternoon.

Antissa

There are several restaurants and kafeneions in the square There's a pharmacy in the village, something that none of the other villages in the vicinity have and a post office. There is also a medical center which serves as a hospital for this part of the island. The only drawback to the area is that there are few if any places to stay besides a few scattered rooms that can be found on Booking.com's Antissa Page or by Contacting Sappho Travel. But if you can't find anything it's anice place to come for a day and especially nice to come for dinner. Even when the rest of the island is hot, the Platia in Antissa is usually comfortable and there are several very good tavernas here which specialize in local meat, fresh fish and vegetables including the excellent To Kati Allo, known throughout Western Lesvos for his paidaikia and other grilled meats.

If you are looking for a good place to buy an affordable house in Lesvos, Antissa is a great place to look because it is big and lively enough to be here year round and though not on the beach it is close enough. You can probably find something inexpensive on the website of SapphoEstate

Gavatha

Below Antissa through a sea of olive trees you come to a small harbor full of fishing boats and a long beach with a few trees that offer shade, a beach taverna and a cantina that serves drinks, sandwiches, a few simple dishes and plays a lot of Santana. Gavatha is built upon a peninsula that shelters the main beach. There is a small Church of St. Pandelemon on the rocks above the village.

Gavatha

Most of the tourists who come here can't be called tourists any longer because they have been coming for years and are almost a part of the village. Many have bought homes in the area. It's a very quiet place with virtually no nightlife beyond whatever may be happening at the beach taverna. Most people go up to Antissa which by comparison is cosmopolitan. The Paradise was one of the best restaurants on the island and people came from all over to eat and enjoy the view. The owner was an extremely hard working woman named Stacy, who moved to the island from New Jersey 25 years ago. She closed several years ago and sadly she passed away in 2020. I am sorry she never got to reopen it because it really was a special place. But right next door to Stacy's former restaurant, overlooking the bay, is a small fish taverna called O Rofos which is worth going out of your way for though currently it seems to only be open at night. Also on the beach in Gavatha the Taverna Tsolias which has grilled meat, the usual seasonal fish and oven cooked dishes and if you are coming in the non-summer months the most likely to be open. Free sunbeds and umbrellas if you eat there. This is the restaurant in Gavatha that most of the villagers in this area eat at.

Gavatha

The beach at Gavatha is a good one for those who like sandy beaches, though when the wind blows from the north there can be waves and flying sand, but it is usually calm the closer you are to the town. There used to be a lot of seaweed which washed up on the shore but the villagers made a courageous effort to get rid of it, perhaps believing it makes the area undesirable to tourists, and have been pretty successful. But the truth is that even when there was a lot of seaweed, once you walk out a few meters the sea is as clear as anywhere. The best place to swim is the far end of the beach near the Cantina that serves drinks and food. Snorkling along the rocks is fine though there are not a lot of fish. If you snorkle far enough you will come to the beach at Kampo Antissa. You can also drive there by following the signs through the valley which is probably a better way to travel.

Kampo Antissa

Kampo Antissa is full of olive trees, orchards, farms and gardens and the dominant color is green. Campo Antissa has even bigger waves with a strong north wind and if you are not a good swimmer you may want to stay close to shore. But even in the summer the beach can be empty and if you are a practicing nudist looking for privacy or a Deadhead with a satchel full of shrooms then this is the place to go if you want to be left alone. When the wind comes from the north east there are great waves. When it blows from the south the sea is calm and when there is no wind at all it's like a millpond. There are a couple conveniently placed changing cabanas, not that you will need them since there probably won't be anyone here. There are also showers and a covered area with a picnic table. Both ends of the beach are rocky but the middle part is sandy and it is a very long middle part. They say that the head of Orpheus washed ashore here (or Lapsarna-depending on who you ask). There is a path to the Cave of Orpheus where they say his head and Lyre are burried. The cave is reachable on foot though it requires some climbing but it is the most impressive cave on Lesvos and is said to be a magical place. The trail starts on a gravel road below Antissa.

In Campo Antissa the valley is a collection of farms and gardens. Directly across the sea Turkey is close enough to be clearly visible every day. If you follow the riverbed which has been paved it will take you past the old Kostas Taverna on the right and down to the beach. There is a pond at the end that is full of eels, frogs and turtles and there are lots of interesting birds around. One you get to the beach you can choose to drive to your right or walk to your left where the promontory that seperates Campo Antissa from the beach of Gavatha begins and you can have as much privacy as you like.

On the road between Kampo Antissa and Gavatha is a sign to Liota which has one of the oldest platanos trees on the island, a healing spring and the very nice little Taverna Liota that is often busy but well worth going to. The story goes that Princess Ligiri was sent here because she had an incurable disease and saw some pigs with sores on them going into the water that was gushing from the ground and emerging healed. She bathed in the water and became healed as well. The 16th Century Panagia Liotas was built to honor this miracle and the church is still here.

Ancient Antissa

If you follow the road east past Campo Antissa you will pass brilliant green fields of clover and drive alongside a river. The road crosses the river and goes through a small settlement before coming to the ruins of ancient Antissa on a promontory. It's an interesting area with ancient stones scattered around and some big walls stillstanding and they recently started an archaeological excavation of this important ancient city. The beach is a wild one, pretty much all stone, often with big waves and whatever debris the waves bring in. It is not great for swimming unless there is no wind and even then you will need watershoes. But there is a path to the sea and a shower right in front of the Taverna Ancient Antissa which is only open in the summer but is one of the best restaurants in the area.

Agia Barbara Beach

If you continue past the archaeological site there is a very pretty church, Agia Barbara, that sits above the small shallow sandy beach of the same name. A short walk from there is the Taverna Obriokastro, open in the summer and also very good. (The road is hell on small cars and should be taken slowly and sober or with a jeep). The road continues on to the beaches below the village of Skalohori.

More about Antissa from In Search of Sardeles Pastes