Mytilene
- Ancient name
- Mytilene
- Modern name
- Lesbos
- Modern country
- Greece
- Coordinates
- 39.11, 26.55
In the Middle Ages, the island now called Lesbos was known by the name of its largest city, Mytilene. This island sits in the Aegean Sea north of Chios and south of Tenedos. It passed from Byzantine control to that of the Genoese Gattilusio family in 1354; Gattilusio control continued until the island was conquered by Mehmed II in 1462.
The toponym Mytilene appears in La Sfera in the following places:
Click on any citation to view it in context in the edition.
Map of the location P098
Variant spellings of Mytilene in Sfera manuscripts
| Variant | Manuscripts |
|---|---|
| [...]te[...] | Par1 |
| [...]tilino | He2 |
| m[e]talino | Ricc1 |
| Metalin | Parm2 |
| metalini | Magl2 |
| METALINO | Med3 |
| Metelin | Clas2, Luc2, Med1 |
| metelin | Ashb7 |
| Metelino | Cors2 |
| metelino | Ashb7, Fn12, Laur3, ME2, Marc1, Pal8, Per2, Pnc3 |
| METELINO | Pal5 |
| metelli[...] | Pad1 |
| metellin | Cs1, Med2 |
| metellin[o] | Ricc8 |
| metellino | Bal, He3, Laur5, NYPL3, Pnc5, Ricc12, Ricc15, Tre |
| Metellino | Morg, Par3 |
| METELLINO | Wie1 |
| Metilino | Con1, Fn9 |
| metilino | Con4 |
| METRELINO | Ashb3 |
| Mettalino | Fo |
| mitileno | NB |
| montalino | Yale4 |
- Suggested citation
- Beneš, Carrie. “Mytilene.” Gregorio Dati’s La sfera = The Globe: A Digital Edition, May 3, 2026. https://la-sfera-staging-a8db029690a6.herokuapp.com/toponyms/mytilene/.