Information about the History of Kalymnos Island

According to myth, Uranus and Gaia had many children; the Giants, the Titans (which ruled the earth before they were deposed by Zeus and his brothers), the Cyclops (which had one eye) and the Ekatocheires (which had a hundred hands).  Uranus was aware that legend said that one of his sons would eventually depose him and he decided to throw them all into Tartarus, the centre of the earth. Kalyndos, one of his sons, fell on a piece of land which emerged back to the surface and formed a large island surrounded by smaller islets, fragments of the piece of land that Kalyndos landed on. The island was aptly named the island of Kalyndos. Towards the end of the 6th century B.C. The Persians under their King Darius, had dominated the Greek cities in Asia Minor.  Kalymnos as well as Kos were forced to pay a heavy tribute to Darius and became satellite states of his empire. During the Peloponnesian war; 431 - 404 B.C. the Kalymnians allied with the Athenians.  During the war they were invaded by the Spartan admiral Astyocho, who did not however manage to install an oligarchic command faithful to Sparta and so Kalymnos soon returned to the Athenian alliance. From 220 to 215 B.C. Kalymnos is subject to Kos which together with Rhodes and Rome, took part in the war against Phillip the 5th of Macedonia. In 554 A.D. one of the most terrible earthquakes ever occurred.  The earth shook for 14 days and is well documented by the historian Agathias who happened to be in Kos at the time. For all of those interested to learn more about the history and mythology of Kalymnos island, browse through the pages of this section.
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