History
Kea is the location of a Bronze Age settlement at the site now called Ayia Irini, which reached its height in the Late Minoan and Early Mycenaean eras (1600-1400 BCE).
In the classical period Kea (Ceos) was the home of Simonides and of his nephew Bacchylides, both ancient Greek lyric poets, and the Sophist Prodicus, and the physician Erasistratus. The inhabitants were known for offering sacrifices to the Dog Star Sirius and Zeus to bring cooling breezes while awaiting for the reappearance of Sirius in summer; if the star rose clear, it would portend good fortune; if it was misty or faint then it foretold (or emanated) pestilence. Coins retrieved from the island from the 3rd century BC feature dogs or stars with emanating rays, highlighting Sirius' importance.
During the Byzantine period many churches were built and the prosperity of the island rose. Kea was Byzantine until, in 1204, it was captured by the Venetians in the wake of the fourth crusade. It was recaptured by the Byzantines under Licario in 1278. In 1296 it fell to the Venetians again, who soon built a castle on the ancient acropolis of Ioulis.
Kea was taken from the Venetians by the Ottoman Turks in 1527. It joined Greece following the Greek War of Independence in 1821, along with the rest of the Cyclades.
HMHS Britannic, the largest ship sunk in World War I and sister ship to the RMS Titanic, sunk off Kea islands in 1916.
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