Kalymnos History

The history of Kalymnos is parallel to the history of the other Dodecaneseislands. Kalymnos has been inhabited since the pre-Minoan times. Duringthe Archaic period, the distance of the Dodecanese from Athens gaveautonomy to these islands, including Kalymnos, and freedom from theimperial Athens. With the rise of the Macedonian Empire, Kalymnos, aswell as the other islands of the group, became part of it.​​

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After the death of Alexander the Great, one of its successors, Ptolemy I ofEgypt, took control of all the islands of the Dodecanese. ​​

The inhabitants of the group were the first Greeks to convert to Christianitybecause Saint Paul and Saint John made a stop there to preach theirfaith. During the Early Byzantine Times, Kalymnos was flourishing, like allthe other islands of the group, but by the 7th century AD, the invaders tookadvantage of the vulnerable strategic position of those islands.​​

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In the 14th century, the Knights of Saint John ruled Kalymnos, along withall Dodecanese islands, and built the Castle of Cryssochera to protect it.The Turkish rule followed in 1522 and ended in 1912 when the Italianstook their place. When the Italians surrendered, the Germans and theBritish fought to take control over the islands of the Dodecanese, causinggreat damages and sufferings among the population. ​​

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Kalymnos was united to the newly built Greek State with the rest of theDodecanese in 1947. In the 1960s, the economy of Kalymnos, based onsponge fishing, gradually declined and many residents migrated.