History of Zakynthos

Zakynthos is known since the prehistoric years. Homer named the island “iliessa” («ÕëÞåóóá»), which means forested, and it is said that the island was amenable to the kingdom of Ithaki, and that its habitants took part in the Trojan campaign along with Odysseas. According to the myth, Zakynthos took its name from its first settler, Zakynthos, son of the king of Phrygia Dardanos. According to findings of the Stone Age, the island was inhabited very early. Thanks to its geographical position and the tar sources it disposed, the island developed an important commercial and cultural activity during the ancient times. During the classical period, Zakynthos was a self-governed and prosperous city-state. During the Persian Wars, the inhabitants of Zakynthos maintained a neutral position, while during the Peloponnesian War, they allied with the Athenians. In 150 B.C. the Romans subjugated Zakynthos entirely, and during the heyday period of the Roman Empire, the island was an independent city; during the Empire’s decline, Zakynthos suffered greatly due to the raids of barbarians.

Christianity reached the island very early, in fact it is said that Mary Magdalene herself came to Zakynthos in 34 A.D. in order to preach the new religion. In the Byzantine years, Zakynthos was included in the province of Illyria, and later on in that of Kefalonia, and once again it suffered from the raids of the Vandals and pirates. After the Capture of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, Zakynthos comes under the control of the Orsinis, and in 1357 the island is under the rule of the Tokkoi family. However, the Turks never succeeded in stepping foot on the island. The Tokkoi leave the island under the Turkish treat, and later on, in 1480 approximately, the island is abandoned by almost all its inhabitants. Venice takes advantage of the fact, and takes hold of the island in 1485, resettles the inhabitants, and offers motivation for the attraction of new settlers. During the Venetian domination period, Zakynthos will face repeated calamities, such as earthquakes and epidemics, and even social turmoil, like the Revolution of the Popolari (people without the rights granted to aristocracy) in 1628, that is the revolution of the popular classes and the bourgeois of the time against the nobles.

In 1797, the island was inhabited by the French, which meant the end of the Venetian domination and feudalism. In 1799, Zakynthos became part of the newly established Ionian State, and in 1809 the British took over the island, a fact that is ratified by the Treaty of Paris in 1815. In 1821, the outburst of the Greek Revolution for Independence from the Turkish Yoke finds the inhabitants of Zakynthos by the side of the revolted Greeks, against the opposition of the British. The chair of the Filiki Eteria (i.e. Society of Friends[1]) was transferred to Zakynthos in 1818, and this is where Theodoros Kolokotronis was initiated in this national matter. During the British domination, there was a flourishing concerning learning and cultural development on the island. Despite this, there were groups of people who wished for liberation from the British yoke, and unification with Greece. Their struggle bore fruits, as the unification of the Ionian Islands to Greece took place on May 21^st 1864. In the 20^th century, the island’s history was marked by the National Disunity[2] of 1916-1917, caused by the ordeals the Greek people suffered under the German and Italian Occupation, and the destructive earthquake of August 1953, which caused the death of many inhabitants and razed the island to the ground.