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Andros

According to mythology, Andros took its name from its first settler, Andros, son of Evrimachus and grandson of Apollo and Kreoussa. He was the General of Radamanthis, King of Crete, who offered him the island as a gift for his services. Historically, Carians, Phoenicians, Cretans, and Pelasgians settled in Andros. During the Persian Wars, the island was captured by the Persians and later joined the Athenian Leaque. Because of the high tribute they had to pay to the Athenians, Andrians took the part of Sparta in the Peloponnesian War.

Later, the island passed to the Macedonians, and later to the Romans who granted it to Apalos of Pergamos. Andros enjoyed great prosperity during Byzantine times, in spite of pirate raids due to its developed sericulture. In 1207, the Venetians, who built many towers and castles, captured it. In 1537, it was ransacked by Barbarossa and later became the possession of the Turks until 1821, when the priest Theophilos Kairis declared the revolution against the enemy. The Treaty of London liberated the island in 1830. Its history though consists of another bloody page: In 1943, the Germans bombarded the island continuously until it was completely destroyed.

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