Kos is a Greek island located in the Dodecanese island chain of the Southern Sporades. The third largest island in the Dodecanese after Rhodes and Karpathos, Kos was said to have been founded by King Merops and was the birthplace of Apollo's mother Leto. Kos was ruled by Antheada at the time of the Trojan War, and a contingent of Koans fought for the Achaean coalition. The Carians later colonized the island, followed by the Dorian invasion of the 11th century BC. A large contingent of settlers from Epidaurus repopulated the island and established a cult to Asclepius, giving it the epithet "The School of Medicine"; it also manufactured wine and silk. Kos fell under Persian rule before revolting following the Battle of Mycale in 479 BC, and Kos joined the Delian League after the end of the Greco-Persian Wars. From 411 to 407 BC, Kos served as Athens' main naval base in the southeastern Aegean. During the Social War of 357-355 BC, Kos rebelled against Athens and fell to King Mausolus of Caria for a few years. During the Wars of the Diadochi, Ptolemy I Soter conquered the island from Antigonus I Monophthalmus, and the Ptolemies used the island as a naval outpost in the Mediterranean. Kos became a thriving island with its own branch of the Library of Alexandria and a medical school following the traditions of Koan native Hippocrates. The island retained its political autonomy under Egyptian rule, and was famous for its amphora production and its export of judges to other parts of the Greek world. Apart from occasional corsair excursions and earthquakes, Kos' history was mostly peaceful. The Koans were friendly towards the Romans, who declared Kos a free city in 53 AD. During the 11th century BC, the island fell under Genoese control, and the Knights Hospitaller paid rent to the Genoese while occupying a base on the island. Starting in the 14th century, the island experienced raids by Turkish corsairs, and the Ottomans first seriously attacked the island in 1455, destroying Andimacheia Castle. On 5 January 1523, the Ottomans occupied Kos after the Hospitallers of Rhodes surrendered. On 5 August 1773, Russian marines launched a costly attack on the Ottoman castle amid the Orlov revolt. Italy conquered the island in 1912 following the Italo-Turkish War, and, after a 1933 earthquake, the Italians rebuilt the island. On Italy's surrender to the Allies in 1943 during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the island and executed 100 Italian officers who refused to join the Germans. From 1945 to 1947, Britain occupied Kos, before it was returned to Greece. Kos continues to have a significant Turkish community of 2,000 people, out of a population of nearly 34,000 people by 2011.
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