The history of the Sporades
The history of Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos: ancient Peparethos, castles from the age of pirates, the writer Papadiamantis and the National Marine Park.
The Northern Sporades, Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonissos and dozens of islets, are the island side of Thessaly. They belong to the Region of Thessaly and have always been tied to the coast of Mount Pelion across the water.
Antiquity
Peparethos and its wine
In antiquity Skopelos was called Peparethos and was known for its wine, which travelled in amphorae all over the Aegean. According to myth, the island was founded by Staphylos, a son of Dionysus.
Middle Ages
Castles against the pirates
For centuries the islands lived in fear of pirates. The people of Skiathos took refuge in the Kastro, a fortress on a steep rock in the north of the island, and stayed there until the 19th century, when they moved back to today's town.
Modern times
Papadiamantis and the sea
Alexandros Papadiamantis, called 'the saint of Greek letters', was born on Skiathos in 1851 and turned the world of his island into literature.
On Alonissos, the old village (Chora) was abandoned after the earthquake of 1965 and later came back to life. In 1992 the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades was founded, the first marine park in Greece and a refuge for the Mediterranean monk seal.
