Tinos

Tinos

Tinos is located in the Cyclades in the South Aegean Sea. It is approximately 194 sq km with 114 km of coastline.

History

•First inhabitants were the Phoenicians, followed by the Ionians in 1000 BC.

•In 490 BC the Persians ruled until it became briefly autonomous in 386 BC when it was conquered by Philip of Macedonia like all the other Greek Islands.

•Philip's son, Alexander the Great ruled after him, then by the Egyptian Ptolemies until the 2nd century BC when Tinos became part of the Roman Empire.

•In 1207, the island was conquered by the Venetians. This period was marked with prosperity in terms of art, agriculture, pottery, food production, etc.

•Tinos submits to the Turks in 1715. They were allowed special rights and privileges unlike many of the other islands. Only the governor and judge were Turks so they could still wear their local uniform and build schools and churches. Eventually these privileges declined.

• Tinos joined the Revolution of 1821 on April 20th. The island was a major contributor, giving ships and sailors of which over 2,000 died in the war. Also, more than 20 people from Tinos were in the "Filiki Etairia," an important revolutionary group.

•1830, Tinos becomes part of the Modern Greek State.

•During World War 2, an Italian submarine torpedoed and sunk the Greek cruiser the "Elli" on August 15th, 1940. It was anchored outside the harbor of Tinos, 9 soldiers were killed and 24 wounded. This day is also a major holiday in Greece called the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. This marks the island's entry to WW2.

Pictures of Tinos

The church of Panagia Evangelistria, a major landmark and tourist attraction of the island. It is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, with the feast on August 15th of every year.

This is a church in the village of Pyrgos which is one of the largest and wealthiest. It has the typical Greek architecture being all white.

The Xombourgo Mountain is made of granite and has a large cross on the top of it. It is lit at night and can be seen from quite a distance away. Excavations here have led people to believe it may have bee the capital of the island in classical times. During the medieval period, the Venetians built a castle on top of the mountain to protect them from enemies.

This is a beach called Agios Ioannis, it's one of the nicest on Tinos and is a major tourist attraction with it's crystal blue water and sandy beach.

Interesting Facts about Tinos

•In antiquity, Tinos was known was Ophiussa which comes from the Greek word meaning snake because there used to be many snakes on the island.

•It was also known as Ydroussa which comes from the Greek word meaning water because of its abundant coastline.

•In ancient Greek mythology, Poseidon, who was the island's protector, chased the snakes away from the island and that was the reason he was highly worshipped in Tinos.

•There is a large portion of Greek Orthodox and Catholics on the island, they coexist peacefully

•Tinos was nicknamed “Little Paris” because of outside influences during the Venetian period.