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Astypalea History, Greece: Information about the history of Astypalea, Dodecanese

 

 
Astypalea is known in Greek mythology as a woman abducted by the sea god Poseidon who came to her disguised as a winged, fish-tailed leopard.

Astypalea was the sister of Europa and bore two sons to the sea god Poseidon: Anceus, the king of Samos who was one of the celebrated Argonauts, and Eurypyleas, the king of Kos. This woman gave her name to an island in the Aegean Sea.
 
Astypalea seems to have been a wealthy place during the Classical times as is evident from the high annual tribute they used to pay to Athens.

 
After the Fourth Crusade which almost destroyed Constantinople, the sovereignty of Astypalea passed on to the noble Querini family of Venice who built a castle on the island which still survives. The Querini were so proud of their fiefdom that they changed their family name to “Querini Stampalia” (a variation of Astypalea).

After the Venetians, it was the turn of the Turks to occupy the island. The Ottomans ruled Astypalea from 1522 to 1912.
 
According to the excavations, the island of Astypalea was first inhabited in the Second Millennium BC by the Carians, who came from the ancient region of Caria in Anatolia (present-day Turkey). They were followed by the Minoans of Crete.

 

There were many temples on the island at that time, another symbol of prosperity. Fruits and flowers practically covered the whole island, which is why the ancient Greeks used to call it “the Table of the Gods”.

In the second century BC, the Romans invaded the island and used it as a strategic haven for their ships. The Roman invasion kept the island safe from pirate attacks. The prosperity of the island under Roman rule continued through the Byzantine period, till 1204 AD.
 
 

During the First World War, the Italians invaded Astypalea, ending the long Turkish rule and used the island as their launching pad for the invasion to Rhodes. In 1947, the Italian occupation ended and Astypalea, along with the rest of the Dodecanese islands, became part of Greece.
 
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