After its first settlers, Skiathos was inhabited by Cretans and then by Mycenaeans, who also occupied the other Sporades.
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The fertility and the strategic position of the island attracted many invaders. In the 7th-6th century BC, the inhabitants of Chalkis (today Halkida), in Euboe (Evia) colonized Skiathos; Vine and olive cultivation for which the island is now famous, was started by them.
The Chalcidians also created the first fortified town in Skiathos.
During the Persian Wars, Skiathos was a great help to the Athenians and its harbour was used as a fleet base.
In 478 BC, the Athenian Delian League welcomed Skiathos as a member. After the Peloponnesian War (404 BC) Skiathos became officially autonomous and independent.
The Spartians tried to violate this by re-occupying the island but the Skiathians, helped by the Athenians, managed to throw them out and established peace and autonomy in their island for 40 years.
But the years of prosperity in Skiathos ended when the Athenians transformed it in a military base against Philip II of Macedonia.
When the Macedonians took Skiathos, they installed a tyrant on the island where the democracy returned only in 341 BC. |
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In 88 BC, the king of Pontus, Mithriades VI burned and destroyed Skiathos in his war against the Romans.
In 42 BC, Skiathos went back under Athenian domination.
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Many pirates’ raids devastated the island during those years. After 221 AD, Skiathos went back under Roman authority.
During these periods the town of the island grew and developed.
In 325 AD, Christianity appeared on Skiathos and the first church dedicated to the Holy Trinity was built in 530.
During the Byzantine period, Skiathos was part of the province of Thessaly and its bishop belonged to the Metropolis of Larissa.
In the 7th century, Saracen pirates devastated the Island of the Aegean Sea, and Skiathos did not escape the massacre.
In 1204 Crusaders took the territories of the Byzantine Empire as well as the Aegean Islands and Skiathos which they gave to the Venetians.
Skiathos, as well as Skopelos, is ruled by the Ghisi brothers, with the help of Marco Sanudo (Naxos) against which they will fight later.
The Venetian brothers built a castle on Skiathos known today as Bourtzi, located in the main port.
The Ghisi remained rulers of Skiathos until 1276. Then other Venetians took the Island which stayed under their authority until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. |
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The War of Independence find them well prepared and the Skiathians took part in many revolutionary action against the Turks.
Kleftes (revolutionary brigands) and Armatoloi (local
militias)
sought refuge in Skiathos,
among them was also
the famous revolutionary hero Kolokotronis; the island
was an active member of the Philiki Etairia (revolutionary
secret organization) and became free in 1830 with the
rest of Greece.
After the revolution, the town of Kastro was abandoned and Skiathians moved to the port where the town expended. Boat building started again.
This island was the inspiration for many poets and artists including Alexandros Papadiamantis.
The Town of Skiathos was greatly damaged by German bombs during the Nazi occupation of Greece.
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On the 14th of September 1943, the Nazis sank a submarine drawing Skiathians heroes and on the 23rd of August 1944 they burn the island and executed seven young Skiathians; those dates are commemorate today and is one of the most important dates in the history of the island.
In the years of the Nazi occupation, Kastro became a refuge for Greek revolutionaries, British, Australians and New Zealanders.
After the war, the economic and social life of Skiathos developed rapidly. |
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