The New Archaeological Museum on Noemvriou Street holds one of the finest collections of ancient mosaics in Greece. The star exhibits are the Hellenistic and Roman-era floor mosaics depicting scenes from Menander's comedies — they were lifted from wealthy Mytilene town houses in the 1960s and are now displayed in purpose-built rooms that recreate something of their original domestic context. The old archaeological museum nearby (8 Argiri Eftalioti Street) holds earlier finds including grave goods and architectural fragments. Together they trace Mytilene's arc from its Bronze Age origins through the height of its classical power, when the city was one of the wealthiest in the Aegean.
story: "Lesbos produced an improbable concentration of ancient intellect: the philosopher Aristotle lived here and wrote that Mytilene was the finest city in the world; the poets Sappho and Alcaeus were born here; and Pittacus, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, governed the city."