The story of Kimolos, which is often confused with that of Milos, is as follows:
Ancient Times
Firstly, the island has been inhabited without interruption, at least since the Late Neolithic Age (5300-4500 BC) and according to mythology, owes its name to its first inhabitant, Kimolos, wife of Sides, daughter of Taurus. She was also given the adjectives Echinousa (island of urchins) and Echidnousa (island of echidnas).
As far as the tribes that inhabited the island are concerned, it was probably the Dorians, who settled both Milos and the Cretans, who had occupied the entire Cyclades.
From the Minoan era, until the 18th century, the island exported earth chalk, a unique type of clay, with whitening, detergent and medicinal properties. Thanks to these exports, in the 3rd century BC, it launched its own coins.
In general, however, knowledge about Kimolos of the first historical years is minimal. We do know, however, that in the 5th century BC, it had developed quite an advanced civilization, being a satellite of Milos, its state was organized according to the standards of the Athenian democracy and the patron goddess was Athena.
In 425 BC. Kimolos participated in the First Athenian Alliance, paying a tax of 1000 drachmas, as well as other islands of the Cyclades. In 416 BC, during the 16th year of the Peloponnesian War, and shortly before the Athenian campaign against Milos, adjacent to Sparta, the inhabitants of Kimolos came into legal conflict with their neighbors over the rule of the Polyaigos Islands. , Keepers and Libers. The Amphitheater Congress ruled in their favor.
From 404 BC and the end of the Peloponnesian War, the island came under the rule of the victorious Spartans, who imposed heavy taxes. In 394 BC, after the naval battle of Cnidus, when the Athenian Conon, with allies the Persians and the Rhodians, crushed the Spartan navy, the rule of the Lacedaemonians on the coasts of Asia Minor collapsed and Kimolos regained its autonomy. In 378 BC, when Nausinikos was the ruler of Athens, a resolution was issued, according to which each city on the island had the opportunity to become a member of the Second Athenian Alliance while maintaining its autonomy. Kimolos, in all probability, accepted.
After the battle of Chaeronia, in 338 BC and the victory of the Macedonians, the Cyclades, as a whole, succumbed to King Philip II while during the reign of Alexander the Great, Kimolos participated in the Common of the Islanders, a kind of federation with It was first based in Delos and later in Tinos, which marked the beginning of a new period of prosperity for the Cyclades, which had the favor of the Macedonian king. In the period of the Successors of Alexander the Great (323 BC-239 BC), the island belonged to the kingdom of Antigonus (Macedonians), and then passed to the kingdom of Ptolemy I (Ptolemy), who established the Cycladic Federation, which included Anafi, Milos, Sifnos, Sikinos and Folegandros. It lasted until 250 BC, when it was disbanded and each island followed its fate. The kings of Egypt ruled the Cyclades until 202 BC, when they were conquered by Philip V of Macedonia.
After the defeat of the Macedonians by the Romans, in 168 BC, the Cyclades came under Roman rule, becoming part of the Aegean Province. In 44 BC, after the assassination of Caesar and under Octavian Augustus, the islands gained relative freedom and autonomy, but a little later, under the later Roman emperors, they declined to a large extent, to the point that they were used simply as a place of exile. At this time, Kimolos is mentioned only as a place of extraction and trade of earth chalk.
Early Christian Period
After the predominance of Christianity and during the early Christian period the island is under the shadow of Milos. In the Early Byzantine Period (4th-6th century AD), the two islands were probably members of the Province of the Islands of the Byzantine Empire and from the 7th century onwards, joined the issue of the Aegean Sea.
Byzantine and Modern Period
In general, the references that include Kimolos in the Byzantine years are negligible. One of the few things we know is that in 1204, after the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders and the rule of the Venetians in the Cyclades, the island came under the rule of Markos Sanoudos, who founded the Duchy of the Aegean, in which, beyond Kimolos , included Syros, Santorini, Paros, Antiparos, Milos, Ios, Kythnos, Amorgos, Sifnos, Sikinos, and Folegandros. The Sanoudi family ruled Milos and Kimolos until 1376, when his brother Ioannis I Sanoudos gave it as a dowry to his son-in-law Frangoullis Crispos, who in turn gave it to his son, Iakovos Crispos.
In 1566 the Duchy of Naxos was overthrown by the Ottomans, but Kimolos remained under the rule of Crispus until 1617, when it was finally transferred to Ottoman occupation. Throughout the Venetian occupation, Kimolos was repeatedly attacked by pirates, who used to set fire to the island and burn churches, a practice that stopped after joining the Ottoman Empire.
Sultan Selim II ceded the duchy to his Jewish favorite, Joseph Mike or Nassi, who appointed Francis Coronello as governor, who ruled on his behalf for 13 years, until the death of both. The islands then returned to the Sultan's rule.
In 1771, in the middle of the Russo-Turkish War, Kimolos and Milos were occupied by the Russians and remained under their rule until 1774 and the Kyutsuk-Kainartzi Treaty, when they returned to the hands of the Ottomans. In 1830 and after the Greek Revolution, the island, like the rest of the Cyclades, became part of the newly formed Greek State.
In the following years, Kimolos was once again overshadowed by Milos and was essentially considered merely as a pasture and fishing ground. In 1944 it was occupied by the Axis Powers and remained under occupation until May 8, 1945, several months after liberation.
This period was extremely painful for the inhabitants, who suffered from hunger and forced labor ordered by the Germans. These events inspired the film The Cannons of Navarone.
In the following years, Kimolos, due to its distance from the central islands of the Cyclades, became an ideal destination for a quiet vacation.