Geography

Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades, 120 kilometres (75 miles) due east from the coast of Laconia. From east to west it measures about 23 km (14 mi), from north to south 13 km (8.1 mi), and its area is estimated at 151 square kilometres (58 sq mi). The greater portion is rugged and hilly, culminating in Mount Profitis Elias 748 metres (2,454 feet) in the west. Like the rest of the cluster, the island is of volcanic origin, with tuff, trachyte and obsidian among its ordinary rocks. The natural harbour is the hollow of the principal crater, which, with a depth diminishing from 70 to 30 fathoms (130–55 m), strikes in from the northwest so as to separate the island into two fairly equal portions (see photo), with an isthmus not more than 18 km (11 mi) broad. In one of the caves on the south coast, the heat from the volcano is still great, and on the eastern shore of the harbour, there are hot sulphurous springs.

The harbour town is Adamantas; from this there is an ascent to the plateau above the harbour, on which are situated Plaka, the chief town, and Kastro, rising on a hill above it, and other villages. The ancient town of Milos was nearer to the entrance of the harbour than Adamas, and occupied the slope between the village of Trypiti and the landing-place at Klima. Here is a theatre of Roman date and some remains of town walls and other buildings, one with a fine mosaic excavated by the British school at Athens in 1896. Numerous fine works of art have been found on this site, notably the Aphrodite in Paris, the Asclepius in London, and the Poseidon and the archaic Apollo in Athens. Other villages include Triovasalos, Peran Triovasalos, Pollonia and Zefyria (Kampos).

HISTORY

Obsidian from Milos was a commodity as early as 15,000 years ago. The position of Milos, between mainland Greece and Crete, and its possession of obsidian, made it an important centre of early Aegean civilization. Milos lost its arms-making importance when bronze became the preferred material for the manufacture of weapons.

During the second phase of the Peloponnesian War, in 416 BCE, Athens attacked Melos, with an army of over 3,000 soldiers, for refusing to submit tribute and refusing to join Athens' alliance against Sparta. The Athenians executed all the adult men they caught, and sold the women and children into slavery.

Later, Milos followed the fate of the other Cyclades islands, subjugated to the Macedonians, the Romans and then the Byzantines. In the early Christian times there were in Milos several Jewish residents and therefore Christianity was spread quite quickly. During Frankish period, Marco Sanudo seized Milos and in 1207 joined it with the duchy of Naxos. In 1537, Hayredin Barbarossa, one of the greatest pirates of all time, as head of the Turkish fleet, pillaged and destroyed most of the islands of the Aegean, but Milos spared by his destructive fury. Since 1566 Milos passed by the Venetians to the Turks. Throughout the Turkish occupation, it was a base for pirates.

On May 9, 1941, the German occupation was imposed on the island, by way of exception, in relation to the other islands of the Cyclades, which joined the Italian occupation zone.