Being in the shadow of the prosperous and spiritual island of Delos, only a few things are known for Mykonos Island during ancient times.  But we can assume that due to its proximity to Delos, which was highly populated, Mykonos became very important as a supply island.  Additionally as Delos was very sacred we can suppose that Mykonos was a vacations island from ancient times.

From excavations we know that the first inhabitants of the Island were the Cares, succeeded by the Phoenicians, but also Ionians from Athens established colonies and managed to gain control of the island expelling the previous habitans by 1000 B.C.

Later in history the island belonged to the Romans and subsequently to the Byzantines until the 12^th century.

After the fall of Constantinoupolis (Instabul now days) at the end of the 4th Crusade (1204), the island was occupied, as their seigneur (stronghold) by Andrea and Jeremia Ghisi – relatives of Dandolo, the Doge of Venice.

In 1292 it was looted and pillaged by the Catalans, and, subsequently, in 1390,  it was given over to the Venetians, by the last of the Ghizi overlord.  In 1537, while still under the Venetian domination, the island suffered a catastrophic attack by Barbarossa, the admiral of Souleiman the Magnificent.

Later, under Kapudan Pasha, the head of the Ottoman fleet the island is practically self-governed, according to the system of the period, by a functionary called a “voivode” and a council (body of “syndics”) who always tried to maintain an equal distance from both Turks and Venetians (the last of whom withdrew definitively from the region, in 1718, after the fall of the castle of Tinos to the Ottomans).

The population of Mykonos (which during modern times has fluctuated, generally from 2000 to 5000 people) was increased by colonies of immigrants (from nearby islands and Crete) during time of starvation and epidemics which often followed the periods of conflict, until the late 18th century.

The Mykonians at the time, known as excellent sailors, were successful in trade and shipping and, also, pirary….

Many islanders were active in the “Orlof Insurrection” ( led by the Orloff brothers, 1770-74), which resulted favorably, for them as well as for Catherine the Great in, due to the very profitable treaties concerning trade between the Ottomans and the Russian Empire.

During the Greek Revolution in 1821, the Mykonians, roused and led by the lady Mando Mavrogenous (an aristocrat who become a popular nation heroine) successfully impeded a landing of a squadron of the Ottoman fleet in 1822.

They participated actively in the war , with four armed ships (two of them totally outfitted and supplied at Lady Mando’s expenses ; before the war over she had spend almost all of her , considerable, family fortune).

After the establishment of the modern Greek State, the activity of the local upper- and lower- middle class revived the island economy through the consolidate of trade relations with south Russia, Moldavia and Walachia.

Myconian merchants were established in Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, Syros, Livorno and Marseilles.

The predominance of stream technology over the traditional commerce of the sailing ships, at the end of the 19th century, and the opening of the Corinth Canal (1904) and the upheavals of World War I resulted in a depression of the local economy. Many Mykonians left to find work abroad (mainly in US) and in the going centres of mainland Greece (Piraeus, Athens).

The development of tourism in the following decades has provided a means of the islands’ economy development.

The prolonged excavations of the French School of Archaeology, begun in Delos in 1873, focused attention on the region- at least that the happy few who, attracted by the charm of classical Greece, had the means and the opportunity to travel.
In the early 30s already, many famous artists, politicians and wealthy people, mainly from Europe, began spending their vacation on the island, attracted by its unique atmosphere. Mykonos has adapted well to the post-war situation and the gradual growth of the tourism industry in south Europe: the island has turned into a cosmopolitan locale and is one of the most successful growth – models, of its type and scale in Europe