Skiathos trivia: 55 amazing facts about this beautiful Greek island!

Skiathos is one of the best known islands on the northwest Aegean Sea and a part of a group of islands called Sporades!

So let’s find out some trivia and facts about this Greek island!

1. Skiathos is a small Greek island in the northwest Aegean Sea
2. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Northern Sporades group
3. East of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland
4. And west of the island of Skopelos
5. In Ancient times, the island played a minor role during the Persian Wars
6. In 480 BC, the fleet of the Persian King Xerxes was hit by a storm and was badly damaged on the rocks of the Skiathos coast
7. Following this the Greek fleet blockaded the adjacent seas to prevent the Persians from invading the mainland and supplying provisions to the army facing the 300 Spartans defending the pass at Thermopylae
8. The Persian fleet was defeated there at Artemisium and finally destroyed at the Battle of Salamis a year later
9. Skiathos then became part of the Delian League
10. The city was destroyed by Philip V of Macedon in 200 BC
11. In 1207 the Ghisi brothers captured the island and built the Bourtzi
12. A small Venetian-styled fortress similar to the Bourtzi in Nafplio
13. On an islet just out of Skiathos Town, to protect the capital from the pirates
14. But the Bourtzi was ineffective in protecting the population and in the mid-14th century the inhabitants moved the capital from the ancient site that lay where modern Skiathos Town is to Kastro
15. Located on a high rock, overlooking a steep cliff above the sea at the northernmost part of the island
16. The island returned to Byzantine control in the 1270s
17. And remained in Byzantine hands until after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453
18. Then it passed to the Republic of Venice
19. Like the rest of the Northern Sporades, Skiathos was conquered by the Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1538
20. In 1704 monks from Athos built the Evangelistria Monastery, which played a part on the Greek War of Independence as a hide-out for Greek rebels
21. The first flag of Greece was created and hoisted in the Evangelistria Monastery in Skiathos in 1807
22. There several prominent military leaders had gathered for consultation concerning an uprising
23. And they were sworn to this flag by the local bishop
24. After the War of Independence and demise of piracy in the Aegean, Kastro became less important
25. In 1830s, the island’s capital was moved to the original site
26. There it still remains
27. Today, the ruins of Kastro are a tourist attraction
28. During the 19th century Skiathos became an important shipbuilding centre in the Aegean
29. Due to the abundance of pine forests on the island
30. The pine woods of the island were then almost obliterated
31. This was brought to a halt though, due to the emergence of steamboats
32. A small shipwright remains north of Skiathos Town, which still builds traditional Greek caiques
33. There is a regular boat service to the island and the rest of the Sporades islands with departures from Volos and Agios Konstantinos
34. The boats are operated mainly by Hellenic Seaways using its high-speed Flying Cat vessels as well as conventional ferries
35. Skiathos International Airport is at the northeast of the island next to a lagoon and a lowland isthmus separating the island from the peninsula of Lazareta
36. As of summer 2011, Skiathos airport is served by Olympic Air flights from both Athens and Thessaloniki
37. While foreign airlines provide charter flights from a range of airports in European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Cyprus and Scandinavian countries
38. During the winter 2013/14, work began to expand the airport
39. With a runway extension and increased hard standing for parked aircraft
40. The modern major road runs along the eastern and southern coast
41. Narrower roads, some paved and some dirt, reach the interior and the northwest coastline
42. There is regular, and during tourist season, very frequent bus transit from the main town to the Koukounaries beach in the southwest
43. There are three bus routes on the island
44. The core route is from the main town to Koukounaries beach
45. Which travels along the south coast of the island
46. There are in total 26 bus stops
47. With Koukounaries Beach being the last stop, number 26
48. This route operates a fleet of five coaches as frequently as five times an hour during the summer peak season throughout the day
49. But is significantly reduced during the winter
50. The second route departs from Skiathos Town, to the Monastery of Evangelistria at an hourly daily schedule
51. And the third bus route to Xanemos on the north coast with up to six round trips daily
52. Both operated using mini-buses
53. Sites of interest in the town are Church of Panaghia Limnià, built in 1837, Church of Tris Ieràrches, Bourtzi Peninsula, Papadiamantis House – Museum
54. Sites of interest in the island are Holy Monastery of Evangelistria, Old Monastery of Panaghia Ekonistria, Old Monastery of Panaghia Kechrià, Byzantine Church of Christ (in the Castle)
55. Skiathos’ most famous beaches are Koukounaries Beach, Lalaria, Banana beach, Xanemos, Megali Ammos, Achladies, Vromolimnos, Agia Paraskevi, Troulos, Asselinos (Small and great), Maratha, Mandraki, Limani tou Xerxi, Kechria, Kastro, Tsougria (island)