Paros (; ; ) is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea and part of the Cyclades island group. It lies 8 kilometers (5 miles) west of Naxos, separated by a narrow channel and about south-east of Piraeus. The Municipality of Paros covers about , including numerous uninhabited offshore islets. Its closest neighbor is the municipality of Antiparos, located to the southwest. In ancient Greece, the island was home to the city-state of Paros.

Historically, Paros was known for its fine white marble, which gave rise to the term Parian to describe marble or china of similar qualities. Today, working marble quarries and mines (as well as abandoned ones) can be found on the island, but Paros is primarily known as a popular tourist destination.

Geography

Paros' geographic coordinates are 37° N. latitude, and 25° 10' E. longitude. The area is . Its greatest length from N.E. to S.W. is , and its greatest breadth .

Islands

  • Gaidouronisi – north of Xifara
  • Portes Island – west of the town of Paros
  • Tigani Island – southwest of Paros
  • Drionisi – southeast of Paros

History

Antiquity

thumb|left|200px|A [[windmill in Marmara is of the traditional Cyclades design.]]

The story that Paros of Parrhasia colonized the island with Arcadians is an etymological fiction of the type that abounds in Greek legends. Ancient names of the island are said to have been Plateia (or Pactia), Demetrias, Strongyle (meaning round, due to the round shape of the island), Hyria, Hyleessa, Minoa and Cabarnis (after Cabarnus).

The island later received from Athens a colony of Ionians under whom it attained a high degree of prosperity. It sent out colonies to Thasos and Parium on the Hellespont. In the former colony, which was planned in the 15th or 18th Olympiad, the poet Archilochus, a native of Paros, is said to have taken part. As late as 385 BC the Parians, in conjunction with Dionysius of Syracuse, founded a colony on the Illyrian island of Pharos

Shortly before the Persian War, Paros seems to have been a dependency of Naxos. In the first Greco-Persian War (490 BC), Paros sided with the Persians and sent a trireme to Marathon to support them. In retaliation, the capital was besieged by an Athenian fleet under Miltiades, who demanded a fine of 100 talents. By means of an inscription, Ludwig Ross was able to identify the site of the temple; it lies, as Herodotus suggests, on a low hill beyond the boundary of the town. For their support of the Persians, the islanders were later punished by the Athenian war leader Themistocles, who exacted a heavy fine.

Under the Delian League, the Athenian-dominated naval confederacy (477–404 BC), Paros paid the highest tribute of the island members: 30 talents annually, according to the estimate of Olympiodorus (429 BC). This implies that Paros was one of the wealthiest islands in the Aegean. Little is known about the constitution of Paros, but inscriptions seem to show that it was modeled on the Athenian democracy, with a boule (senate) at the head of affairs. In 410 BC, Athenian general Theramenes discovered that Paros was governed by an oligarchy; he deposed the oligarchy and restored the democracy. Paros was included in the second Athenian confederacy (the Second Athenian League 378–355 BC). In , along with Chios, it severed its connection with Athens.

From the inscription of Adule, it is understood that the Cyclades, which are presumed to include Paros, were subjected to the Ptolemies, the Hellenistic dynasty (305–30 BC) that ruled Egypt.

During the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) in 1770–1775 Naoussa Bay was the home base for the Russian Archipelago Squadron of Count Alexey Orlov. Under the Treaty of Constantinople (1832), Paros became part of the newly independent Kingdom of Greece, the first time the Parians had been ruled by fellow Greeks for over six centuries. At this time, Paros became the home of a heroine of the nationalist movement, Manto Mavrogenous, who had both financed and fought in the war for independence. Her house, near Ekatontapiliani church, is today a historical monument.

WWII and Nazi Occupation

During the WWII Axis occupation of Greece, Paros was originally occupied by the Italians until 1943. The Nazis then took over the island in 1944 and imposed brutal rule from the beginning.

In 1944, during the German occupation of Paros, the island's strategic importance led to the forced construction of an airfield near the village of Marpissa. The project amassed over 400 forced Greek workers at one point. Local resistance, aided by the Allies, sought to sabotage the project, with Nikolas Stellas, a 23-year-old partisan, emerging as a key figure. Captured by the Germans, Stellas refused to provide any names or information and was therefore publicly hanged, becoming a symbol of resistance. In retaliation, 125 Parians were condemned to execution. However, Major Georg Graf von Merenberg, the German commander, was persuaded by Abbot Philotheos Zervakos to spare them, influenced by Stellas' sacrifice and the abbot's appeal to his humanity.

British commandos and local partisans conducted a successful operation that led to the attack on German forces stationed there. The operation included the sabotage of German communication lines and the abduction of a key German officer. This resistance effort was part of a broader Allied strategy in the Aegean during World War II, contributing to the disruption of German military operations in the region. The airfield constructed by the Germans in Marpissa was later bombed by the British. There are no remains of it today.

Starting in the summer of 2023, the island saw protests from locals on many beaches due to government failure to stop beach-side businesses from placing more umbrellas than permitted.

Other settlements

left|180px|thumb|Street of [[Naousa, Paros|Naousa]]

thumb|View of Lefkes village

thumb|160px|Traditional street of Lefkes

On the north side of the island is the bay of Naoussa (Naussa, formerly Agoussa or Ausa), which provides a natural spacious harbor for boat traffic. In ancient times it was closed by a chain or boom. In modern times it is experiencing great touristic development.

Another popular harbor is that of Drios on the south-east side, where the Turkish fleet used to anchor on its annual voyage through the Aegean Several of these tunnels are still to be seen.

Notable people

;Ancient

  • Agoracritus (5th century BC), sculptor
  • Archilochus (c. 680 BC–c. 645 BC), lyric poet
  • Aristion of Paros, sculptor of the Phrasikleia Kore
  • Satyros (4th century BCE), architect and sculptor
  • Scopas (c. 395–350 BC), sculptor and architect
  • Theoctiste of Lesbos (9th century), hermit saint
  • Thrasymedes (4th century BC), sculptor
  • Thymaridas (c. 400 BC–350 BC), mathematician

;Modern

  • Nicolò Venier, Lord of Paros
  • Nurbanu Sultan (1525–1583), wife of Selim II and Haseki Sultan of Ottoman Empire as well as the mother of Murad III and Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. She is also the daughter of Nicolò Venier, Lord of Paros.
  • Herbert Seiler (1928–2008) artist, sculptor, painter
  • Vassilis Argyropoulos (1894–1953) actor
  • Nicholas Mavrogenes (1738–1790), prince of Wallachia
  • Athanasius Parios (1721/22–1813), theologian
  • Manto Mavrogenous (1796–1848), heroine in the Greek War of Independence
  • Eirene Varoucha-Christodoulopoulou (1896-1979) archaeologist and numismatist, excavated on Paros
  • Joseph the Hesychast (1897-1959), monk
  • Augoustinos Kantiotes (1907-2010), bishop
  • Yiannis Parios (1946-), musician
  • Yiannis Ragousis (1965–), politician
  • Argyro Barbarigou (1967-), celebrity chef
  • Christos Perakis (1973-2024), entrepreneur, founder of Zoottle, former Apple country business manager of Greece and Cyprus
  • Stan (Stratos Antipariotis) (1987-), musician
  • Christos Arianoutsos (1993-), footballer

<gallery class="center">

File:Paros Parikia 03.jpg|Parikia, Paros with the church of Agios Konstantinos

File:Paros Parikia 09.jpg|Agia Anna in Parikia, Paros

File:Paroikia, Paros, street, 075819.jpg|A street in Parikia, Paros

File:Naoussa, Paros, 119139.jpg|Naoussa, Paros

File:GR-paros-naoussa-gasse-1.jpg|Street in Naoussa, Paros

File:Fish tavern, Naoussa, Paros, 119137.jpg|Naoussa, Paros

File:GR-paros-lefkes-kirche.jpg|Church in Lefkes

File:Paros Lefkes2 tango7174.jpg|Lefkes, Paros, Greece.

File:Paros Andiparos Despotiko Luftbild 01.jpg|Paros, Antiparos & Despotiko islands

File:Paros-Church.jpg|Church of the 100 doors (Ekatontapyliani), Baptistery, Parikia

File:Paros Alyki2 tango7174.jpg|Alyki, Paros

File:Old lighthouse, Paros 143792.jpg|Old lighthouse on the island of Paros

</gallery>

See also

  • Communities of the Cyclades
  • Aegean Center for the Fine Arts
  • Pounta

References

;Notes

;Sources

  • Clarke Travels III (London, 1814)
  • de Tournefort, J.R. Voyage du Levant I.232 seqq. (Lyon, 1717)
  • Leake, William Martin, Travels in Northern Greece III.84 seqq. (London, 1835)
  • Where to stay in Paros, Thanasis Mougios (which owns "KingLIke Concierge")
  • Website of the municipality of Paros
  • Moving Postcards Paros
  • Church of Ekatontapyliani (Church of a Hundred Doors)
  • Folklore Art Museum of Cycladic Civilization by Benetos Skiadas.GR