Astypalaia history

Links: Homepage Astypalaia Town Gallery Time-off

The most obvious historical monument is the castle, built during the period of Venetian rule over the islands of the Cyclades. Astypalaia's lords were the Querini family, whose crest is built into the tower shown in the picture below. Most of what can be seen today was built around AD 1413. The castle protected the lord and his people from the pirates, who were a constant problem until 1830. The Venetians were displaced by the Ottoman Empire in 1537 and Astypalaia continued under Ottoman rule until 1912, when the Dodecanese islands were occupied by Italy. The three blue domes are churches, Panagia tou Kastrou and Agios Giorgos inside the castle and Panagia Portaitissa to its right, all built under the later part of Ottoman rule. In 1948, after the second world war, Astypalaia and the rest of the Dodecanese joined the Hellenic Republic of Greece.

The ruins inside the castle cover the remains of the ancient city of Astypalaia. It is known mostly from a few ancient historical sources and from inscriptions on stones built into later houses. These show that it had a market, theatre, school, sanctuaries and temples. Astypalaia was recognised as an independent city state by the Roman Empire and it was clearly a place of some importance during Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic times. The museum houses inscriptions and other finds from these periods. A number of archaeological excavations have been carried out, but the largest to date are on the cemeteries which form the focus of the Astypalaia Bioarchaeology Programme. These date from the period of the ancient city, with the earliest burials in Archaic times, around 750 BC and the latest in Roman times at perhaps AD 100.

The main church of the island is Panagia Portaitissa, which takes its name from a famous icon which was brought to Astypalaia by the monk Anthemos in 1762. It is next to our laboratory and one of our first visits is to take the students to see inside.