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Lipsi

A great number of ancient objects found inside the tombs and dating back to the last centuries before the Christian era confirm the presence in the island of a city and of a constituted society.

During the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.) Lipsi was often visited (not always with friendly intentions) by vessels of both the adversaries.

In Roman times the island became depopulated owing to the deficiency of its fortifications in regard to the new war techniques and methods of that time.

In the Byzantine era Lipsi was incorporated to the Province of Dodecanese. During the 11th. Century A.D. began a new period for the island, as the emperor of Byzantium Alexios Comnenos granted the islands of Patmos, Lipsi and Arkious, to Reverend Christodoulos. These islands were almost uninhabited then, to let him build a monastery where he could gather his disciples so that they devote in peace their life to religious and humanitarian tasks.

In 1523 the Turks occupied the island, but due to the presence of the monastery of Patmos, it continued to enjoy some privileges During the Greek national insurrection against the Turkish domination, the inhabitants of Lipsi managed to get rid of the Turkish yoke, but only for a short time, as the Treaty of Constantinople of the 9th July 1832 restored the Turkish rule upon the island. In 1912, the Italians occupied Dodecanese and installed there a little garrison.

Towards the end of the Second World War the island Lipsi was liberated and annexed to Greece.
 

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