Editing Paros (section)

==History==

===Antiquity===
[[File:Paros Marmara tango7174.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A [[windmill]] in Marmara is of the traditional [[Cyclades]] design.]]

The story that Paros of Parrhasia colonized the island with [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]]ns<ref>[[Heraclides Ponticus|Heraclides]] ''De rebus publicis'' 8</ref> 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.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Stephanos Byz.</ref>

The island later received from [[Athens]] a colony of [[Ionia]]ns<ref>Schol. [[Dionysius Periegetes]] 525; [[Herodian]] I.171</ref> under whom it attained a high degree of prosperity. It sent out colonies to [[Thasos]]<ref>[[Thucydides]] ''Peloponnesian War'' IV.104; [[Strabo]] ''Geography'' 487</ref> and [[Parium]] on the [[Hellespont]]. In the former colony, which was planned in the 15th or 18th [[Olympiad]], the poet [[Archilochus of Paros|Archilochus]],<ref>Zafeiropouloy F., and A., Agelarakis “Warriors of Paros”, Archaeology 58.1(2005): 30–35.</ref> a native of Paros, is said to have taken part. As late as 385 BC the Parians, in conjunction with [[Dionysius I of Syracuse|Dionysius of Syracuse]], founded a colony on the [[Illyria]]n island of Pharos<ref name=EB1911/> ([[Hvar]]).<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]] XV.13</ref>

Shortly before the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Persian War]], Paros seems to have been a dependency of Naxos.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>[[Herodotus]] ''Histories'' V.31</ref> In the first [[Greco-Persian War]] (490 BC), Paros sided with the Persians and sent a [[trireme]] to [[Marathon, Greece|Marathon]] to support them. In retaliation, the capital was besieged by an Athenian fleet under [[Miltiades the Younger|Miltiades]], who demanded a fine of 100 [[talent (weight)|talents]].<ref name=EB1911/> But the town offered a vigorous resistance, and the Athenians were obliged to sail away after a siege of 26 days, during which they had wasted the island.<ref name=EB1911/> It was at a temple of [[Demeter]] Thesmophoros in Paros that Miltiades received the wound from which he died.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Herodotus  ''op.cit.'' VI.133–136</ref> 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.<ref name=EB1911/>

[[File:Paros Parikia5 tango7174.jpg|thumb|Church of Zoodohos Pigi, Parikia]]

Paros also sided with [[shahanshah]] [[Xerxes I|Xerxes I of Persia]] against Greece in the second Greco-Persian War (480–479 BC), but, after the [[battle of Artemisium]], the Parian contingent remained inactive at [[Kythnos]] as they watched the progression of events.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Herodotus ''op.cit.'' VIII.67</ref> For their support of the Persians, the islanders were later punished by the Athenian war leader [[Themistocles]], who exacted a heavy fine.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Herodotus ''op.cit.'' VIII.112</ref>

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).<ref name=EB1911/><ref>[[Olympiodorus of Thebes|Olympiodorus]] 88.4</ref> 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 (ancient Greece)|''boule'']] (senate) at the head of affairs.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum 2376–2383; Ross, Inscr. med. II.147, 148</ref> In 410 BC, Athenian general [[Theramenes]] discovered that Paros was governed by an [[oligarchy]]; he deposed the oligarchy and restored the democracy.<ref>Diodorus Siculus XIII.47</ref> Paros was included in the second Athenian confederacy (the [[Second Athenian League]] 378–355 BC). In {{Circa|357 BC}}, 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 [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemies]], the [[Hellenistic]] dynasty (305–30 BC) that ruled Egypt.<ref name=EB1911/> Paros then became part of the Roman Empire and later of the [[Byzantine Empire]], its Greek-speaking successor state.

===Crusades===
[[File:I Paros - Buondelmonti Cristoforo - 1420.jpg|thumb|Fifteenth century map by [[Cristoforo Buondelmonti]]]]
In 1204, the soldiers of the [[Fourth Crusade]] seized [[Constantinople]] and overthrew the Byzantine Empire. Although a residual Byzantine state known as the [[Empire of Nicaea]] survived the Crusader onslaught and eventually recovered Constantinople (1261), many of the original Byzantine territories, including Paros, were lost permanently to the crusading powers. Paros became subject to the [[Duchy of the Archipelago]], a [[fiefdom]] made up of various Aegean islands ruled by a Venetian duke as nominal [[vassal]] of a succession of crusader states. In practice, however, the duchy was always a [[client state]] of the [[Republic of Venice]].

===Ottoman era and independence===

[[File:Friedel - Manto Mavrogenous.jpg|thumb|right|140px|[[Manto Mavrogenous]]]]

In 1537, Paros was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] and remained under the Ottoman Empire until the [[Greek War of Independence]] (1821–1829). The Ottoman conquest of Paros resulted in atrocities committed against the public: as happened to the population in other islands during the Ottoman conquest of the Aegean islands, old men were killed; young men were made galley slaves; little boys were made [[Janissaries|janissari]]es; and the women were ordered to dance on the shore so that the conquerors could choose the most attractive for the lieutentants, enslaving around 6000 of the inhabitants of Paros for [[slavery in the Ottoman Empire]].<ref>Miller, William. The Latins in the Levant: A History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566). London: 1908. p625</ref> 

During the [[Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)]] in 1770–1775 Naoussa Bay was the home base for the Russian Archipelago Squadron of Count [[Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov|Alexey Orlov]]. Under the [[Treaty of Constantinople (1832)]], Paros became part of the newly independent [[Kingdom of Greece (Wittelsbach)|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 [[Panagia Ekatontapiliani|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 [[Nazism|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, Paros|Marpissa]]. The project amassed over 400 forced Greek workers at one point.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Henry |first=L. deZeng IV |date=March 2015 |title=Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Greece, Crete and the Dodecanese |url=https://www.ww2.dk/Airfields%20-%20Greece%20Crete%20and%20the%20Dodecanese.pdf}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lively Arts - Human Interest |url=http://www.lively-arts.com/humaninterest/2012/03/closed_circle.htm#:~:text=In%201944,%20Paros%20was%20occupied,of%20Prodromos,%20Marmara%20and%20Marpissa. |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=www.lively-arts.com}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Word is Vendetta" – The abduction of general Kreipe and the attack on Paros, April-May 1944. |url=https://thomasharder.dk/en/word-vendetta-abduction-general-kreipe-and-attack-paros-april-may-1944 |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=thomasharder.dk}}</ref> The airfield constructed by the Germans in Marpissa was later bombed by the British. There are no remains of it today.<ref name=":0" />

=== 21st century ===
On 26 September 2000 the ferry [[MS Express Samina]] collided with the Portes islets off the bay of Parikia, killing 82 of those on board.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greekislandhopping.com/Updates/updatepages/u_disaster.html |title=Ferry Disaster off Paros |access-date=April 1, 2011 |publisher=Greek Island Hopping |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120222458/http://greekislandhopping.com/Updates/updatepages/u_disaster.html |archive-date=January 20, 2011 }} ()</ref>

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.<ref name=":1" /> The protests saw some success, with the Greek government toughening inspections and implementing fines for businesses who do not abide by the rules.