Mykonos is a Greek island in the Cyclades archipelago of the Aegean Sea. It was originally inhabited by the Carians, but Ionians from Athens settled on Mykonos in the 11th century BC. Mykonos was named after its eponymous first ruler, a descendant of Apollo. It was said that the island's rocks were the petrified corpses of once-invincible giants whom Heracles slew after luring them away from the protection of Mount Olympus. Mykonos was a poor island during ancient times, and, during the early stages of the Peloponnesian War, it languished under the oppressive rule of the Athenian puppet Podarkes the Cruel. The Delian rebellion of 429 BC led to Podarkes' downfall and the establishment of a pro-Spartan government in the Silver Islands headed by the rebel leader Kyra and the Spartan polemarch Thaletas, tearing out the heart of the Delian League (which was based from Mykonos and neighboring Delos). Mykonos later fell under Roman and Byzantine rule, and, in 1204, the island was occupied by Venetians of the Fourth Crusade. It was ravaged by Catalans in the 13th century and finally came under the direct rule of the Republic of Venice in 1390. In 1537, the Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa attacked and occupied the island, which became a base for his fleet. In 1718, the castle of Tinos fell to the Ottomans, ending Venetian rule on Mykonos. Until the end of the 18th century, Mykonos prospered as a trading center, attracting immigrants from nearby islands, as well as pirate raids. In 1794, Mykonos harbor was the site of a naval battle between Great Britain and France during the French Revolutionary Wars. During the Greek War of Independence, the Mykonian woman Manto Mavrogenous sacrificed her family's fortune for the Greek cause, becoming a national hero. The opening of the Corinth Canal in 1904 and the outbreak of World War I led to a decline in the island's prosperity, and many Mykonians moved to the mainland in search of work. However, tourism became the main source of income for Mykonos. In 2011, Mykonos had a population of 10,134 people.
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