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Skiathos

The island's first inhabitants were the Pelasgians. In 480 B.C., when the Persians invaded Greece, Skiathos tried to defend itself with three ships against the Persian fleet. After the Persian wars, it joined the First Athenian Confederacy. Later, it succumbed to the Macedonians and was subsequently attacked by Attalus, the Rhodians, the Romans, Philip III and Demetrios Poliorcetes. Eventually, it became a hideout for pirates and was awarded autonomy by Septimius Severus (193-211 A.D.). Under the Frankish occupation it was a part of the Ghizi's duchy before being taken over by the Venetians (1454) who fortified the Bourtzi islet and the castle.

In 1538-1829 the inhabitants moved to an almost inaccessible position on the most northerly tip of the island. The Kastro, as the deserted town is called, is a three hours distance from Skiathos Town. It is built on a rocky peninsula formerly connected to the rest of the island by a drawbridge. Of its ruined buildings, the Church of Christ is well preserved, with a wooden screen of 1695 and some of its frescoes more or less intact.

Once of great importance but now inhabited by only one or two monks, is the Monastery of Evangelistria (Convent of the Annunciation), with a fine Byzantine church containing frescoes and a library of MSS, and the Convent of St. Charalambos, to which the novelist Alexandros Moraitidis retired shortly before his death.

In 1538, Skiathos was ransacked by the Turkish soldiers under Haireddin Barbarossa and the population suffered terribly. In 1803, Skiathos had 12 ships and, became a refuge for revolutionaries from Pelion and Macedonia. After 1829, its people abandoned their fortress capital on the northern tip of the island and built the present town.

During the Greek War of Independence of 1821 many warriors from Thessaly, located near by, took refuge on the island. During this war the ships of Skiathos played their part and the island was liberated in 1823. In 1829 the fortified Kastro was abandoned and its inhabitants settled in the present town, known as Chora, on the site of the ancient city.

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