NISYROS TRAVEL GUIDE

NISYROS > HISTORY

HISTORY

Historic sources say that the island was created due to volcanic eruptions. The first settlers are reported to have been the Kares. Rhodians and Thessales followed.

Nisyros became part of the Athenian Coalition in 479 BC.

From excavations in the archaeological site of the island’s acropolis it is shown that the island had an important civilization in ancient times. The ancient town was inside the acropolis walls and was inhabited from the 5th B.C. to the 5th A.D.

Close to the port are found the remains of an ancient town of the Copper Age.

Nisyros during its history followed the same fate as the rest of the Dodecanese Islands. In 1315 it was conquered by the Knights of Saint John, who built the Venetian castle.

In 1522 the Turks occupied the island until 1912, when the Italians conquered it.

As with all the Dodecanese Islands, Nisyros officially became part of Greece in 1948.