Listed 15 sub titles with search on: History for wider area of: "THIRA Province KYKLADES" .
SANTORINI (Island) KYKLADES
It is said that Chionis also took part in the expedition of Battus of Thera, helped him to found Cyrene and to reduce the neighboring Libyans.
IOS (Island) KYKLADES
1. Early ancient years - Name origin
The first of the archaelogical excavations on the hill of Skarkos
prove that the island has been inhabited since the early Cycladic period. Evidence
of this lies in the well preserved walls of buildings and the various utensils,
testimonies of a flourishing, important community. The remnants of the walls on
the West and North entrances to Chora lead us to the conclusion that the castle's
hill has been inhabited since the archaic period. There are elements that bear
witness to the presence of Careans, Pelasgians, Achaeans and Phoenicians, who
gave the island the name "Phoenicia". The Ionians came and settled the island
in 1050 B.C. A version about the origin of the island's name claims that it derives
from the name of the Ionians. However, this does not seem to be valid linguistically:
were this the case, the name would be "Ionia" or "Ionis". According to another
version, the name derives from the Phoenician word "Ion", meaning "a heap of stones".
This version does not seem valid either, as we know that the Phoenicians were
settled in places that were much rockier than Ios. Finally, according to the prevailing
version, Ios took its name from the violets (in Greek: "ion") that grace its countryside
each spring.
2. Homer
The island has been linked to the death of the poet Homer, creating
a myth which, in the course of centuries, turned into a tradition. Inscriptions
and coins, but mainly texts of the ancient historians Stravon, Pausanias, and
Herodotus, are proof of the fact that the great poet died and was buried on Ios,
birthplace of his mother Klymeni. Travellers in Greece in the 17th - 19th century
never omit mentioning the evident delight of the island's inhabitants in showing
the visitors Homer's tomb in the area of Plakoto.
3. Classical period
During the classical period, Ios joined its forces with the Athenian
League to avoid occupation by the Persians. In doing so, they established a democracy.
The inscriptions from that era show that the inhabitants spoke the Ionian dialect
and worshipped the ancestral Athenian god Pithius Apollo, as well as the protector
of the Ionians, Fytalmius Poseidon.
4. Hellenistic - Roman - Byzantine periods
In 338 B.C., after the battle of Cheroneia, Ios came under the rule
of Macedonia. In 315 B.C., it recovered its independence, becoming an equal member
of the "Islanders' Community". Thereafter, Ios entered into an alliance with Ptolemy
Philadelphus (280 B.C.) and the Rhodians (220 B.C.), who had become an important
naval power in the Aegean, against the Macedonians. In the 2nd century B.C., the
Romans occupied Ios and included it in their "provincia insularum", using it,
like the island of Giaros, as a place of exile. During the Byzantine period, the
Christians built churches on the foundations of pagan temples. Their ancient columns
and marble were used as building material. Some of the pagan inscriptions were
even "recycled" to further glory of the new religion. Until Ios came under Frankish
rule, it suffered a lot from pirate raids, as its natural harbour was a sheltered
anchorage for all ships. At that time, whenever the islanders saw a foreign ship
in the port, they would barricade themselves in the castle, sending the oldest
women of the island to the port. If they came back, everything would be all right.
If not, those inside the fortress would have to prepare for battle.
5. Venetian period
In 1204, Ios was occupied by the Crusaders, and up to the 15th century,
as part of the Duchy of Naxos, it was ruled by the noble family of Crispi. The
Crispi rebuilt the castle on the ruins of the old one to protect the island from
pirates.
6.Turkish occupation
In 1537, the Turkish pirate Hairedin Barbarossa occupied the Duchies
of Naxos and Ios. During the following years, Ios was occupied by the Turks and
devastated by the pirates, who continued to plague the entire Agean Sea region.
Yet, the island kept its Greek indentity. In 1770, in order to reclaim their island,
the people sided with the Russians, who were at war against the Turks. In 1821,
Ios contributed to te Greek War of Independence against the Turks with a war-fleet
of 24 ships, one of which was built on the island. Despite the war, Ios did not
neglect the education of its children: a hundred of them attended the school.
The final liberation came with the incorporation of Ios in the modern Greek State,
which was founded by the signature of the protocol of London on the 10th of March
1829.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the University of Patras' XENIOS DIAS website URL below.
SANTORINI (Island) KYKLADES
Son of Autesion, guardian of sons of Aristodemus, opposes claim of Cresphontes to Messenia, leads a colony to Thera, yearly sacrifices offered to him in Thera, his descendants.
. . . the sons of Aristodemus were Procles and Eurysthenes, and although they were twins they were bitter enemies. Their enmity reached a high pitch, but nevertheless they combined to help Theras, the son of Autesion and the brother of their mother Argeia and their guardian as well, to found a colony. This colony Theras was dispatching to the island that was then called Calliste, and he hoped that the descendants of Membliarus would of their own accord give up the kingship to him. This as a matter of fact they did,taking into account that the family of Theras went back to Cadmus himself, while they were only descendants of Membliarus, who was a man of the people whom Cadmus left in the island to be the leader of the settlers. And Theras changed the name of the island, renaming it after himself, and even at the present day the people of Thera every year offer to him as their founder the sacrifices that are given to a hero.
This extract is from: Pausanias. Description of Greece (ed. W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., & H.A. Ormerod, 1918). Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
A Spartan who colonized and gave name to the island of Thera.
From 1204 Santorini belongs to the Duchy of Naxos
and was ceded as a Barony to the Barotzis till 1335 when the Barony was annexed
to the Duchy of Naxos 1397-1418
by the Krispo Dynasty. In 1480 Santorini was given as a dowry by the Duke of Naxos,
Giacomo 3rd to the Duke of Crete,
Domenico Pisani. In 1487 Santorini was annexed with the older islands of the Duchy
of Naxos, to Venice.
(Text: Manolis Lignos)
This text is cited February 2004 from the Municipality
of Thera tourist pamphlet (2003-2004).
ANAFI (Island) KYKLADES
Although it is a small island, it has a rich history and mythology. It was first settled in the eighth century B.C. by Dorians. After A.D. 1207 it devolved to a succession of Frankish families, such as the Foscoli, the Gozzadini, the Crispi and the Posani. In 1537 the island was pillaged by Khayr ed-Din, the pirate also known as Barbarossa.
There are two stories to explain the origin of its name:
One is related to the myth of the Argonauts, according to which the Argonauts became endangered by a terrible storm as they were returning from their expedition. Suddenly the island appeared before them, and for this reason it was called Anafi ('appeared').
The other version is related to the lack of snakes on ('An-Ofis'= 'without snakes').
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Development Association 21th Geographical Unit URL below, which contains image.
SIKINOS (Island) KYKLADES
The ancient name of the island was Oinoe, 'Wine island', due to the widespread cultivation of vines. According to the myth, when the women of Limnos rebelled and slaughtered all the men of that island, Ipsipyli, the daughter of King Thoas, in order to save her father, put him in an earthenware jar and dropped it into the sea. The jar was swept along by the waves until it reached the coast of Oinoe (Sikinos) where some fishermen brought it ashore. The union of Thoas with a nymph produced a son named Sikinos from whom the island took its name. From the earliest times until the liberation of Greece from the Turkish yoke, the island saw many conquerors. In the tenth century B. C. the island was settled by lonians. In the Roman and later the Byzantine periods, Sikinos fell into obscurity whilst the continual raids by pirates increasingly sapped the island. There followed Venetians, the Russians for a short period, and then the Turks. The island was united with the rest of Greece in 1830.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Development Association 21th Geographical Unit URL below, which contains images.
SANTORINI (Island) KYKLADES
During 1579-1821 five selfgoverned Kastelia existed on Santorini.
That of Skaros (medieval capital, on the rock opposite today's Imerovigli),
Agios Nikolaos (today Oia),
Pyrgos, Akrotiri and Emporio,
built on a fortress basis for protection from piracy raids.
The suppression of piracy and the parallel transportation trade and
the export of the island’s products, resulted in the island’s prosperity
and many Thiraeans settled and prospered in Alexandria,
Constantinoupolis, Odessa
and other cities.
(Text: Manolis Lignos)
This text is cited February 2004 from the Municipality
of Thera tourist pamphlet (2003-2004).
One generation before the Ionians set sail from Athens, the Lacedaemonians and Minyans who had been expelled from Lemnos by the Pelasgians were led by the Theban Theras, the son of Autesion, to the island now called after him, but formerly named Calliste.
This extract is from: Pausanias. Description of Greece (ed. W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., & H.A. Ormerod, 1918). Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
On the island now called Thera, but then Calliste, there were descendants of Membliarus the son of Poeciles, a Phoenician; for Cadmus son of Agenor had put in at the place now called Thera during his search for Europa; and having put in, either because the land pleased him, or because for some other reason he desired to do so, he left on this island his own relation Membliarus together with other Phoenicians.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
. . . from the Minyans, who, being descendants of the Argonauts, were first driven out of Lemnos into Lacedaemon, and thence into Triphylia, and took up their abode about Arene in the country which is now called Hypaesia, though it no longer has the settlements of the Minyans. Some of these Minyans sailed with Theras, the son of Autesion, who was a descendant of Polyneices, to the island which is situated between Cyrenaea and Crete "Calliste its earlier name, but Thera its later," . . . and founded Thera, the mother-city of Cyrene, and designated the island by the same name as the city.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
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