Limnos Tourist Guide

In the local dialect but also in Community documents of the 19th century the village was referred as Visin (1856) Fsin or Psin (it), and the inhabitants with anagram: Sfnades. So the feminine type was prevailed: Fisini which was attributed to the verb blow because in the area "f'sa, sfniz ' means raises tornado (cyclones).

We can still see today the ruins of the fort Skala near the village Fisini in the area called "Towers." Skala was a medieval fortress of Limnos. It is not known when the church of the village, Agios Ioannis was built, but it is similar with others of the 19th century. It was a three storey fort, but after the earthquake of 1968 it was considered risky and one floor was removed with great difficulty because the grouting of the stone was done by lead. 

During the Byzantine period, protector of Llmnos was Agios Alexandros, whose relic was kept in Limnos until 1308. But then, in a pirate raid His relic was stolen and transferred to Venice. Since then, the memoralization of Agios Alexandros as the protector of Limnos gradually weakened. Many twists and tragic events occurred on the island, such as pirate raids, strifes of imperial families for the control of the island, invasions of Franks and Byzantines who succeeded one another, the Venetian period after the fall of Constantinople and finally the Ottomans in 1479. All these changes have led old habits to be forgotten. The island began to recover from poverty and illiteracy from the mid-18th century. Merchants and sailors of Limnos came into contact with Europe, Russia and Egypt. They acquired wealth and began to rebuild their old humble and often ruined temples of their villages. The ship masters who sailed in Constantinople, Smyrna and Alexandria and in the ports of the Aegean and the Black Sea. On their way to the Dardanelles they were gazing their island from afar. A chapel, which was long been in the northeast coast of Limnos, was giving them courage and strength to continue the battle with the sea. It is the temple of Agios Sozon, which is located near Fisini. The sailors considered Agios Sozon as their savior because once he saved the castaways by turning his cloak into a boat. Similarly the inhabitants of the island who were waiting for their relatives to return from the sea, they were praying to the Saint to bring them back healthy. So for Limnos naval profession and for their families, Agios Sozon gradually became the protector saint, at the feast of which they had to go every year on Sept. 7th. Towards the end of the 19th century he is honored as the patron Saint of Limnos. 

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