The beautiful Skiathos island has always maintain the same name since the pre-Hellenic period. It’s assumed that this name was given to the island by the Pelasgians, its earliest inhabitants since they were impressed with the fantastic shadow (“skia” in Greek) of those numerous trees enclosing the island. After these initial immigrants at the history of Skiathos, the island was then dwelled by Cretans and Mycenaeans, who also inhabited the other Sporades islands. The fertile agriculture and the tactical place of the island attracted many invaders. In the 7th and 6th century BC, the individuals of Chalkis, Evia island, colonized Skiathos and constructed the first fortified city on Skiathos island. During the Persian Wars, Skiathos harbor was used as a fleet base and this was a Fantastic help to the Athenians. Following the Peloponnesian War (404 BC) Skiathos became formally autonomous and independent. The Spartans tried to disrupt this by re-occupying the island however, the Skiathians, aided by the Athenians, was able to throw them out and established peace and autonomy in their island for 40 years. However, the years of serenity in Skiathos finished when the Athenians converted it into a military base against Philip II of Macedonia. When the Macedonians took Skiathos, they put a tyrant on the island where the democracy come back just in 341 BC. Following the death of Alexander the Great, a succession of leader followed in integral Greece and at Skiathos through that the Skiathians suffered very much. In 197 BC, Skiathos repossess its democracy. The Romans took Greece in 146 BC however they allowed some liberties into the Skiathians who lived peacefully in the Roman oblivion. In the year of 88 BC, the king of Pontus, Mithriades VI burned and ruined Skiathos in the war against the Romans. In 42 BC, Skiathos went under Athenian domination. Many pirates raids damaged the island through those years. After 221 AD, Skiathos went back under Roman authority. During these years the town of the island grew and developed.
Medieval periodIn the year of 325AD come up on Skiathos island and was built the first church dedicated to the Holy Trinity. At the time of the Byzantine period, Skiathos belongs to the province of Thessaly and its bishop has his chair to the Metropolis of Larissa. From the 7th century, Saracen pirates destroyed the island of the Skiathos, and a massacre was occurred. In the year of 1204, Crusaders gained the territories of the Byzantine Empire together with the Aegean Islands and Skiathos which they delivered to the Venetians. The Venetian built the castle of Bourtzi known as today. Skiathos remained under the Byzantine Empire until the 1453 The Ottomans conquered Skiathos in 1538 AD. Throughout the early years of the 19th century, the people of Skiathos began to grow in shipbuilding. The War of Independence of Greece found the Skiathians well prepared and they participated in many revolutionary actions against the Turks
Recent yearsFollowing the Greek Revolution, the local left from the town of Kastro and moved to the port at which a new town was built. Boat construction started again. Skiathos inspired many poets, writers, and musicians, such as Alexandros Papadiamantis and Alexandros Moraitidis. On September 14th, 1943, the Nazi troops sank the Greek Submarine Lambros Katsonis off the coasts of Skiathos and each year the Katsonia Festival memorialize this sad occasion. In years of the Nazi possession, Kastro turned into a refuge for Greek revolutionaries, British, Australians, and New Zealanders. Following the war, the social and economic life of Skiathos developed quickly with tourism growth with many shops and Skiathos hotels.