Πληροφορίες τοπωνυμίου

  Its history stretches back into mythology. According to tradition, during the expedition against Troy, Achilles anchored his ships here.
  If the visitor climbs today to the settlement of Petri, a picturesque eagle's nest with fifteen stone windmills on its east, he will see a rock with a large hole in the middle which is where, it is said, Achilles tied up his vessel.
  Nearby , there is a cistern with a spring, known as the "Spring of Achilles" because the great hero drank water from it. The area is called "Achilleiophigada".
  In 1462 Sultan Mahomet II took Lesvos, and then on its inhabitants shared the same fate as all the other islanders.
  On 12 March 1676, the French corsair Hugo de Crevelier, at the head of 800 men, plundered Petra for three hours. When he left, he took with him 500 young men and women. He spared the churches, perhaps because he was Christian. For this terrible pirate this operation was the most important and the most profitable of his life.
  In 1865, on Monday, the first day of Lent, until Tuesday, Turkish-Albanians looted the village, carrying off any gold , silver or silk which they found. Miraculously, the silver revetment of the icon of Our Lady, the silver censer (1667) and the chalice (1742) escaped.
  In 1823, people from Psara created in Petra a nucleus of revolution, which resulted in appalling experiences of the residents of Petra the 'Troubles' as the whole climate of violence of those times was called.
  The village was liberated from Turks on 6 December 1912 a few days before, it had had more 'Troubles' with beating, looting, abductions and murders on innocent citizens. On four December, Turkish lieutenant Hikmet doused Petra in oil and set fire to it, having first stripped it of anything of value. Petra quickly healed its wounds, was set on its feet again, to reach its present state of development and progress as a modern tourist resort.

This text is cited June 2003 from the Municipality of Petra URL below.

• http://www.petra.gr/Petra/history.htm