Page 61 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAGAZINE 2023

HISTOR Y

Marvel at white churches,
old houses and traditional
buildings alongside your
island tour. It’s time to step
back in time to partake in
the charming secrets of
Myconian history.
ACCORDING to Hesychios, Mykonos
derives from the word Mykon,
meaning heap and themonia; heap of
stones on account of the impressive
granite boulders that seem to have
been heaped by some supernatural
hand. Ancient Greeks had created the
myth that under the island’s rocks were
buried the giants killed by Hercules,
who came to the aid of his father Zeus
during the Gigantomachy.
Archaeological finds on Mykonos
indicate the existence of a significant
civilisation on the island, dating back
to the Late Neolithic period (5th & 4th
millennium BC). Later, Ionians settle on
Mykonos, colonising it after expelling
its previous inhabitants.
Later on, when Delos was highly
populated, Mykonos became very
important as a significant port for
supplies and transit. It was also an
important cultural and religious
centre, and many travelled frequently
between the two islands. During the
time of the Roman occupation and
the Middle Ages, Mykonos was part
of the Roman Empire and then the
Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines
defended it against the Arabs in the
7th century and maintained control
until the 13th century, when it came
under the control of the Ghizzi dynasty
in 1207 and was eventually handed
to the Venetians in 1390. In 1537, still
under the Venetians, Mykonos was
attacked by Hayreddin Barbarossa,
a legendary admiral of Suleiman the
Magnificent. The Ottomans took over,
imposing a system of self-governance
which consisted of a governor and an
appointed council of syndics.
After centuries of foreign rule, the
Mykonians took over a leading role
in the Greek Revolution of 1821
against the Ottomans, spearheaded
by acclaimed national heroine Mando
Mavrogenous. Mykonos was part of
the free Greek State since the first day
of its independence in 1830. Sailors
and merchants quickly revived the
island’s economy, consolidating trade
relations with South Russia, Moldavia

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