Terra Lemnia
Terra Lemnia was a widespread medicine which its extraction took place at the “Despotis” or “Mosihlos” hill, in-between the Repanidi, Kotsinas and Varos villages, north of Savior’s chapel and seems to continue being extracted until the 19th century, with the last report of extraction being the year 1916.
After the final processing, a small tablet was manufactured which had a different stamp corresponding with the period. In the ancient times it was marked with goddess Artemis’s stamp, during the Christian times the stamp was marked with Christ’s figure and alternatively it was called “Holy soil” while during the Turkish occupation it was stamped with a half moon or various formal Ottoman stamps.
From the ancient years it was reported that the composition of Terra Lemnia had unique healing properties. It was swallowed since its form resembled a pill, while also it was used to smear wounds or dissolved into water.
According to various reports and studies it seems that it had antiseptic, hemostatic and analgesic effects. It was regarded to cure skin and eye inflammation, dysentery, stomach disorders and it neutralized snaked venom. Also, it was believed to counteract plague and malaria. Past and present analyses showed that Terra Lemnia consisted mainly of silicate clay and alumina. Its brown-red color was attributed to the high comprehensiveness of iron oxides.
Various views are formulated about the end of Terra Lemnia. It is probable that its extraction was stopped due to its low demand.
According to mythology, at the Mosihlo hill, Hephaestus fell when Zeus threw him from Olympus. Hephaestus’s leg broke from the fall, but he cured his injuries with the therapeutic soil of Terra Lemnia, which he gifted to the inhabitants of the island. According to the ancient tragic poet Sophocles, with the extract of "Terra Lemnia" the renowned archer and king of Melivia Philoctetes was cured in a cave when he was bitten by a snake and his fellow-travelers abandoned him and continued their journey to Troy.