A remarkable rationalist port built during the Italian Dodecanese period.
Lakki has one of Europe's most complete ensembles of Italian rationalist architecture, set around a vast natural harbour on Leros.
The Italians developed Lakki, then called Portolago, as a naval base in the 1930s. Its market, cinema, school, church and civic buildings use bold rationalist and art deco forms unlike the vernacular architecture elsewhere in Greece.
The enormous harbour also carries the memory of the Battle of Leros and later military use. Lakki remains a working port, so its architecture is encountered amid everyday shops and ferry traffic rather than as a preserved museum district.
Practical information
Many ferries use Lakki, while some dock at Agia Marina. Walk the architectural circuit in daylight, respect military property and use local transport for war museums.
