Mykonos History

According to Greek myth, Mykonos was formed from the petrified bodies of the Giants slain by Hercules. Photo above the Delos Lions.

The island was a major supply center in ancient times for the sacred isle of Delos, 2 km distant, which was densely populated at that time.

First inhabitants of Mykons were Cares, Phoenicians, and Cretans, followed by Iones in the 9th centuryBC.

It belonged to the Athenian League, later fell under Spartan control, along with the rest of the Cyclades, followed by the Macedonians, the Ptomlemains of Egypt, the Romans, Venetians, the pirate Barbarossa and the Ottoman Turks.

During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the island was plagued by pirates—hence, the labyrinthine capital, designed to confound pillagers, as on many islands.

Thereafter Mykonos became a naval power which participated actively in the Greek revolution of 1821, and produced the national heroine Mano Mavrogenous.