Stouronisi () or Styronisi (Στυρονήσι, "island of Styra") is a small island in the Euboean Sea. It is located in the

South Euboean Gulf The South Euboean Gulf (, ''Notios Evvoïkos Kolpos'') is a gulf in Central Greece, between the island of Euboea and the Greek mainland (Boeotia and Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a h ...

opposite

Styra Styra () was a town of ancient Euboea, on the west coast, north of Carystus, and nearly opposite the promontory of Cynosura in Attica. The town stood near the shore in the inner part of the bay, in the middle of which is the island Aegileia, now ...

. It is the largest island of a small island complex comprising 7 islets and rocks. The island has an area about 2 km². Stouronisi has recently become known because of some plans of the Greek government for a development of a high-class summer resort in the island.

History

In antiquity, the island was named Aegilia or Aigilia (), or Aigileia or Aegileia (Αἰγίλεια), and was referred by

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

. Herodotus writes that during the

First Persian invasion of Greece The first Persian invasion of Greece took place from 492 BC to 490 BC, as part of the Greco-Persian Wars. It ended with a decisive Classical Athens, Athenian-led victory over the Achaemenid Empire during the Battle of Marathon. Consistin ...

(492-490 BCE), the captives from the Siege of Eretria were kept on Aegilia (which belonged to

) during the

Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens (polis), Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Achaemenid Empire, Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaph ...

(490 BCE). After the battle, these captives were picked up, and eventually sent to

Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The Euboean Sea is an important passage for the ships, so around the coasts of Stouronisi, some ancient wrecks have been found. The submarine exploration of one wreck has been shot as part of an award winning documentary. The most notable ancient wreck belongs to

Hellenistic era In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the Roma ...

. During

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

the island was used as shelter of Greek guerillas.

Odysseas Androutsos Odysseas Androutsos (; 1788–1790 – 1825; born Odysseas Verousis ) was a Greek armatolos in eastern continental Greece and a prominent figure of the Greek War of Independence. Born in Ithaca (island), Ithaca, the son of an Arvanites, Arva ...

and

Nikolaos Krieziotis Nikolaos Kriezotis (; c. 1785–1853) was a Greek soldier who served as a leader during the Greek War of Independence in Euboea. Biography An Arvanite, Kriezotis was general officer in the Greek revolutionary army and is credited with being one ...

turned to the island those years. Today the island is uninhabited but the Greek government has plans for the conversion of the island into a high-class summer resort.

References

{{Euboean Sea Islands Landforms of Euboea (regional unit) Euboea (regional unit) Islands of Central Greece Uninhabited islands of Greece Battle of Marathon