Mykonos island history  According to mythology, the petrified bodies of the giants that Hercules killed formed Mykonos. Later, the island was named after the hero Mykono. The first inhabitants of the island were Cares, Phoenicians and Cretans but later Iones came from Athens to Mykonos in the 9th century B.C. In the beginning, the island had two main towns: Mykonos on the west coast, where the city lies today, and Panormos on the north coast.

Right after the Persian Wars, the island was in a financial decadence, which was evident from the small contribution to the Athenian Coalition in which it belonged.

Following the fate of the rest Cyclades it came under the Spartan domination followed by the Macedonian, the Ptolemeans of Egypt, and finally the Romans. During the Mithredatian Wars the island suffered a major disaster. The Byzantine era Mykonos belonged in the Aegean Thema and in the Middle Ages it came under Gizi brothers' domination until their death. Then it passed under Venice control until the looting from Barbarosa and directly after it was ruled from the Turks. After that the island became a naval power and during the 19th century it was a pirate center. For a small period (1770-1774) the Russians controlled it. During the Greek revolution of 1821 the inhabitants participated actively, and Manto Mavrogenous became a national hero.

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