Sifnos history

In antiquity Sifnos was one of the richest islands thanks to its gold and silver mines, which were a mixed blessing for the islanders, bringing them both wealth and trouble. The Sifnians built their public buildings using the famous marble of Paros and made the richest offerings to the Oracle of Delphi. A geological catastrophe -yet unverified- destroyed the mines and was the reason for the island's decline.

According to mythology, Sifnos took its name from Sifnos, son of the Attican hero Sounios. Carians, Phoenicians, and Asians are believed to have first settled the island. However, due to the lack of proof on the subject, the prevailing theory is that the island was first inhabited by the Aegeans, who belonged to the Mediterranean race and the Cretans who joined them. During the Peloponnesian Wars, the island took the part of the Athenians and, after its end, joined the Athenian League. Later, it passed to the Macedonians, Ptolemies, and Romans.

According to the archaeologists, one of the first settlements of the ancient Cycladic era - as far as Sifnos is concerned - is found in Platys Gialos based on the cemetery, which was discovered at the position Akrotiraki and whose remains could be seen by travelers of the previous century.

The latter used it as an exile. Pirate raids ravaged the island during Byzantine times when it was subject to the Theme of the Aegean. In 1207, it was captured by the Turks, who kept it until the early 19th century, with an interval of four years of Russian occupation.

After the fall of Constantinople, Sifnos was granted to the Gozzadini family by the Duke of Naxos, Marco I Sanudo. In 1307 the Catalans conquered the island. In 1456 a heiress of this family married into the Gozzadini family, uniting the two aristocratic families of the island. By paying an annual tribute, the Gozzadinis were able to keep Sifnos, while all the islands around were being occupied by the Turks. But in 1617 it was their turn to hand over power to the Ottomans.

Throughout the Byzantine and Ottoman periods the island was famous for its School of Sifnos, an institution of higher education. It provided the church with a number of its senior figures and its most famous head teacher took all the boys capable of bearing arms to the Peloponnese in order to fight in the Greek War of Independence.

During the Greek War of Independence of 1821, Sifnians took an active part and were liberated in 1830, together with the rest of the Cycladians. The island's history continued its bloody course up until the Balkan wars and the two world wars.

During the 50's, Platys Gialos was one of the most important pottery centres on the island, with 15 out of 45 potteries at the time functioning. According to researchers, Platys Gialos was the first seaside pottery centre. Till that time, and because of the fear for the pirates, this art was developed on the inland. Nowadays, there are four potteries functioning in that village, where young people work and continue the tradition of their forefathers.