About

The building of the General Secretariat for the Aegean and Island Policy is one of the most historic buildings in the Municipality of Mytilene. Built in 1893, it housed the Ottoman administration of the Island of Lesbos—and later of the Archipelago Islands—until 1912, the year of liberation.

On November 8, 1912, the official surrender of the island to the Greek Military Commander Konstantinos Melas took place inside this building.

After 1920, it housed the Orphanage for Destitute Children and contributed immensely to the settlement and care of Greek refugee children following the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922.

In 1985, by a unanimous decision of the Hellenic Parliament, it operated as the Ministry of the Aegean. Since September 11, 2011, the building co-houses the General Secretariat for the Aegean and Island Policy, the Court of Appeals of the Northern Aegean, and the Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Appeals of the Northern Aegean.