Current Watch Site

Throughout the island of Lesvos, stone churches from Late Antiquity through the early modern era survive to tell the stories of this Aegean locale. The churches have a typology unique to Lesvos, Limnos island to the north, and the nearby mainland Turkish city of Ayvalik. They bear significance as individual structures, but also as an ensemble of vestiges integrated within the island landscape. The churches, a number of which still function as houses of worship, serve an important role in the social fabric of each community and are inextricably linked to the lives of all residents.

The 12 churches included in this Watch listing are in a precarious state of conservation due to structural collapse, compromised foundations, and deterioration of interior elements such as wall paintings and mosaic floors. In several churches, strips of gauze hold the wall paintings in place.

The Churches of Lesvos were listed on the Watch in 2008, which helped both to raise awareness about their plight and to garner funds for an exterior restoration at Aghios Nikolas. However, if additional action is not taken, these sites will continue to deteriorate at an exponential rate because of the fragility of the building fabric, risking enormous and irreversible losses to the churches themselves and the cultural landscape.