A Short History of Skyros
A brief history of Skyros, from the Bronze Age town at Palamari and the myths of Achilles and Theseus, through Athenian conquest, Byzantine and Venetian rule, to the modern island.
Last updated 29 June 2026
Skyros feels timeless, but it has a long and eventful past, one that explains almost everything you see: why the town sits high and inland, why its culture is so fiercely its own, why a small Aegean island turns up again and again in the Greek story.
In short: Skyros has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, when the fortified town at Palamari flourished (about 2500 to 1800 BC). In myth it was the island of King Lykomedes, of the hidden Achilles and the death of Theseus. The Athenian general Cimon conquered it around 476 BC. It later passed through Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman hands, whose piracy shaped its clifftop town, before joining the modern Greek state in the 1830s.
Bronze Age beginnings
The island’s oldest chapter is written in stone on the north coast, at Palamari, a fortified town of the Early and Middle Bronze Age (roughly 2500 to 1800 BC), one of the most important prehistoric settlements in the Aegean. Skyros was a place of consequence long before it entered legend.
The age of myth
In the Greek imagination, Skyros belonged to King Lykomedes. It was here that the goddess Thetis hid her son Achilles, disguised as a girl, to keep him from the Trojan War, and here that the Athenian hero Theseus died, thrown from a cliff. These stories, told in full in our guide to the myths of Skyros, tied the island to the greatest names of the age.
Athens and the classical world
By the classical period the island was held by the Dolopians, a people with a reputation for piracy. Around 476 BC the Athenian general Cimon conquered Skyros, and, following an oracle, recovered what were believed to be the bones of Theseus and carried them back to Athens. The island became Athenian, a useful stepping stone on the sea route to the grain of the Black Sea.
Byzantine and medieval Skyros
In the Byzantine centuries the island’s defences rose on the high rock above what is now Chora. The Monastery of Agios Georgios, dedicated to the island’s patron saint, was founded there in 963, and the castle (Kastro) guarded the heights. You can walk up to both today; see our walking guide to Chora and the castle.
Pirates and the clifftop town
Through the medieval and later centuries, under Venetian influence and then Ottoman rule, the Aegean was plagued by piracy. This is the key to the shape of Skyros. The town was built high and packed tight on its hill, turned inward and hidden from the sea, so that raiders sailing past would not easily find or reach it. The car-free maze of Chora, and much of the island’s distinctive, self-contained culture, are the legacy of those dangerous years, preserved in the Faltaits Museum and alive in the Carnival.
The modern island
Skyros became part of the modern Greek state in the 1830s, after the War of Independence. In the twentieth century it drew a quieter kind of fame: the English poet Rupert Brooke died near the island in 1915 and lies buried in its southern hills. Today Skyros keeps what its history gave it, a strong local identity, a hilltop town, and a pace all its own.
FAQ
How old is Skyros? It has been inhabited since the Bronze Age; the fortified town at Palamari dates to roughly 2500 to 1800 BC.
Why is the town of Chora built so high and inland? For defence against pirates. Building the town high on the hill, hidden from the sea, kept raiders from easily finding or reaching it, and shaped the compact, car-free Chora you see today.
When did Skyros become part of Greece? In the 1830s, following the Greek War of Independence.
Part of Chora & Culture. See also the myths of Skyros and Palamari. Plan your trip →