Prehistoric settlement of the Early Bronze Age (3200-2400 BC) with five successive building phases (Thermi I-V), as well as residential remains of the Middle and Late Bronze Age (2000-1300 BC). It is located on the east coast of the island of Lesvos, approximately 10 km north of the city of Mytilini. It was identified and systematically excavated by the British School of Athens, represented by archaeologist Winifred Lamb, during the years 1929-1933.
Thermi I was a small town, unfortified, but with an urban organization: the houses were connected by partitions and formed complexes, organized radially around a central complex, which was delimited by a corridor. In this phase there is the basic architectural type that continued unchanged throughout the life of the settlement: the rectangular oblong building with a closed, sometimes open, vestibule and chamber, with an entrance on a narrow side. The walls were built of stone and mud, the floors of the houses and roads were usually paved with sea pebbles, and the roofs were flat with branches and reeds on beams, covered with clay. In Thermi II, the first attempt to strengthen the defense of the settlement is made: the continuous outer walls of the houses created a kind of fortified enclosure. In Thermi III, an enclosure and ramparts are built. In Thermi IV, the pericentric system is abandoned and the city is rebuilt with a different orientation. Parallel roads divide the settlement into large building complexes and the city is protected by a fortified enclosure. At Thermi V a strong defensive wall was built and the ‘rectangular’ or linear town plan was perfected by laying out a central thoroughfare and smaller cross streets that created unequal-sized building blocks and small open spaces. Around 2400 BC the settlement was abandoned and repopulated after 2000 BC. This is a limited installation without the extent of earlier periods.
The development of the settlement was included in the Regional Operational Program “Culture” of the Community Support Framework 2000-2006, which was completed in 2008. In addition to the work carried out for the complete uncovering of the settlement and the consolidation – restoration of the residential remains, a complex of two buildings was constructed public service.