I took a ferry from Turkey to the island of Lesvos, Greece. Naturally, I spent most of my time swimming and doing normal activities exploring an abandoned factory.
Hour 1 in Greece I was casually strolling by the water when I spotted a large, graffiti-covered concrete building. It stood out amongst the cute homes, and my plan for the day became clear. The front doors and windows were gated and chained, but it wasn’t too difficult to find an opening around back.
The first look was astounding! The place is huge, with extremely high ceilings, holes in the floor, and walls with measurements. If I had to guess, some sort of factory/grain storage area.
Although I was next to the road and could hear signs of normal life, it was pretty spooky inside.
There are numerous buildings and staircases in the complex, one of which circles up into a square tower with more zig-zagging staircases (ok, wooden ladders that are rotting).
Up on the landing is some sort of metal production equipment. The wall crumbled when I touched it, which seemed both safe and to indicate I should keep climbing. Also there was a dead pigeon and I almost stepped on it.
Things started to feel a little questionable, so I headed back down to the [lower] roof. It’s hard to tell in the photos, but it’s pretty high up.
The towers are covered in graffiti with references to Moria, the huge refugee camp previously located on the island, built for refugees arriving by boat after fleeing war or oppression in the Middle East. The camp was highly-controversial, known for horrific conditions, rights violations and extreme overcrowding. The residents of Greece wanted it gone, and the refugees wanted to be treated like human beings. It was burned down in 2020 by arson. You can read more about it here if you are uninformed.
This Moria-related graffiti continued back downstairs inside a massive warehouse-y room.
Back outside in the “breezeway” between buildings, graffiti of a different sort and more staircases (I did not climb those; some things do perhaps seem too dangerous).
The buildings sprawled on, and felt like the place never ended. More crumbling walls, holes in the floor, and huge glass-less windows overlooking the ocean. There is even a basement storage area that’s cool (literally cold), full of trash (+bats) and too dark to photograph.
I have to say, this abandoned factory in Mytilene on the island of Lesvos in Greece is one of the cooler places I’ve explored!
