+ Cycladia Travel Guides | History



Antiparos Island Name
In ancient times Antiparos used to be called Oliaros meaning "wooden mountain range". During the 13th century A.D. the island comes under the Venetian domination and the Venetians name it Antiparos most probably due to its proximity to Paros.
Antiparos Inhabitants
The Phoenicians from Sidona were the first to inhabit Antiparos which was later occupied by the Minoan Cretans (2nd Millennium B.C.) as well as many other conquerors in the years after.
Antiparos Domination

Around 1207 A.D. and during the Middle Ages Antiparos becomes a member of the duchy of Naxos under the authority of Marcos Sanoudos. The castle of Antiparos is built in 1440 A.D. by Lorentano, the son in law of K. Somaripas, the Venetian Duke of Paros who offered him the feud of Paros as a wedding gift. Even though the island was flourishing both financially and socially, the continuous pirate attacks and the high taxation they had to pay to the Venetians slowed down the island's development.

In 1537 the island falls into the hands of the Ottomans along with the rest of the Cyclades and the admiral Barbarossa annexes Antiparos to the Ottoman Empire that is now called upon to pay heavy taxation. From 1770 until 1774 Antiparos falls under the Russian domination and the island suffers severe damages by pirates coming from Kefalonia and Mani all the way to 1794. Nevertheless Antiparos is one of the first islands of the Cyclades to take part in the War of Independence against the Turks and becomes a secret base of action. Finally the island becomes part of the Greek state in 1830.


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