MUNICIPALITY of POLICHNITOS
Vrisa

Vrisa through legends and history
The mist of legend covers the establishment of Vrisa. The legendary settler of Lesvos, Makar or Makarefs, whose name is still used in Makara, a location on the western end of the gulf of Kalloni, is, according to politician and historian Androtion, the founder of the temple of Vriseos Dionysus at the cape of Vrisa. Today the area is called St.Fokas: “ το ιερόν του θεού εν τη Βρίση φήσιν ιδρύσθαι υπό Μάκαρος» (meaning that Makaras founded the temple of Dionysus in the area of Vrisa).

According to Claudius Elianos in his “Varied History” another man called Makar, a priest of Dionysus, was the founder of the deity’s worship at the cape of Vrisa. Thus, according to scholarly Stefanos the Byzantine, Dionysus was named after Vrisa, Vriseos. Moreover, he is also called “vrisagenis”, meaning born in Vrisa, according to an inscription found in the area of the temple, as it is mentioned by the German archaeologist Koldewey: “ΜΕΓΑΡΙΤΟΣ ΑΙΣΧΥΝΟΥ ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΥ ΒΡΙΣΑΓΕΝΕI” [meaning that it was an offer of Aischynes from Megara to god Dionysus Vrisagenis (born in Vrisa)]

Ancient Vrisa must had been situated over the cape of Vrisa, nearby the temple, as it is shown by shells which were accidentally found during the cleaning of the small natural port located at the eastern side of the headland. 
It is still a mystery if the cape and the temple of Dionysus were named after the city or vice versa. It is certain, however, that the village of Vrisa existed since antiquity and its name today is directly connected to Vriseos Dionysus, forming thus an example of historical continuity at this tiny corner of Lesvos.
The sacredness of the site at the cape of Vrisa has been preserved through the years by the successive building of temples. The latest temple of Dionysus is of Doric rhythm and its ruins date back in the 1st century B.C.

Mythical Vrisa, which is related to Makaras, the founder of Lesvos, is also related to another myth concerning Brisiida a female figure in the Trojan War, “ικέλη χρυσέη Αφροδίτη”(as beautiful as goddess Aphrodite) as Homer describes her. She was the apple of discord between Achilles and Agamemnon.
According to the tradition, Vrisiida was born in Vrisa. She was the daughter of Vriseas from whom derives her name.  When Achilles occupied Lirnissos, the city where Vrisiida was living with her husband king Minitas, he killed the king and took his wife, Vrisiida, with him to the Greek army camp in Troja, as a precious prize.
The local tradition kept alive the belief that Achilles past by Vrisa. Locals show with pride, even today, the well on the way to St. Fokas, which was dug by Achilles and it was named after him, “Achiliopigado”.

During early Byzantine period, and most probably much earlier, during the Roman or Hellenistic times, the village of Vrisa was transferred further east from the cape of St. Fokas to the location of St. Catherine.

The findings of that area, such as the groundwork of a big paleochristian church, tombs and clay oil lambs of the same era, marble or inscribed columns as the one with the inscription “ΣΤΡΑΤΟΝΙΚΗ ΧΡΗΣΤΗ ΧΑΙΡΕ” (kindhearted Stratoniki we salute you), lead us to the conclusion that Vrisa of early Christian times and most probably “Vrisia polis” mentioned by the Alexandrian lexicographer Isychios (5th century B.C), was located at the end of a fertile riverside valley.
The reason why maritime Vrisa was abandoned is not known. Perhaps here happened the same thing as in all Aegean maritime and island cities; pirate raids, which convulsed the Byzantine Empire during mid and late Byzantine eras, forced the inhabitants of maritime Vrisa to look for a safer place of residence inland.

After the distraction of their city, the people of Vrisa settled in small rural, stock breeding societies, a few kilometers from the sea in the surrounding area of Vrisa. Through the years other settlements as that of Paleokastro, Aegida and Livadi were taken up by the much safer Vrisa settlement.

Vrisa today
Vrisa, unseen by the sea, protected by a reconnaissance system against pirate raids consisting of watchtowers in strategic points, survived through the difficult and dark Middle Ages and the Ottoman dominion. This way it managed to preserve not only the life but also the spirit of its inhabitants with all the beautiful qualities of past beliefs and culture they carried through the years.

In the beginning of 19th century, Christians of Vrisa with their little means of survival managed to build within a year (1803-1804) the church of Zoedochos Pigi (Life-giving Spring), which is described as the most lyrical basilica of the island  because of its colours and lines. Its wooden carved temple is of unique artistic value. In the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th Vrisa follows the general development of the island and exhibits remarkable financial, social and intellectual progress. In 1909, 480 families live in Vrisa. There are two olive presses producing olive oil. Cereal, aniseed and figs are its main products. People of Vrisa maintain by their own means a girls’ and a boys’ school. The village has three doctors and a pharmacy.
This upward course lasted till the mid 20’s. After the German occupation and the civil war, an intense migrating current towards large urban centers caused population shrinkage, the fast aging of people and the downbeat of the agrarian economy of Vrisa.
In the last two decades the tourist development of Vatera and St. Fokas created a promising perspective in concern to the reinforcement of local economy and the sustenance of the remaining population in Vrisa.

In addition, important results are expected by the exploitation of the paleontological findings in the area of Vrisa-Vatera, which already attract the interest of the international scientific community. Specimens of petrified animals are exhibited in the Natural History Collection at the old Girls’ School in Vrisa.