Tinos owns its name in Tino who was the first settler of the island. The older name of Tinos island was Ofiousa, because (ofis means snake in greek) and passed years used to leave lot’s of snakes in the island. Also Tinos had another name,  the name of Ydrousa because of  the abundance of water in the island. Protector of Tinos was the god Poseidon. Poseidon in order to protect the island from the many snakes, sent a swarm of storks and  exempted the island  from snakes. First residents in Tinos were Foinikes or Palasgoi and later inhabited from Iones. The ancient elements in Tinos history come from Mycenae period. That, can be testified by the graves of that period that were found in the island. During 6th century Before Christ Tinos became tributary in Eretria.
Tinos island suffered a lot from the raids of pirates, until occupied from Venetians. Venetians kept Tinos under their sovereignty for 5 centuries until 1715. Up to 1715 Tinos remained under the Venetian sovereignty in which it had been devolved orally from its last dynast George Gysis. The Venetian sovereignty and the bravery of the people in Tinos saved the island from the attacks of Turks. Thus, Tinos remained up to 1715 a unique Christian oasis although the Turkish domination was all over the Aegean. Tinos managed also that period to have certain economic and social development.

Tinos has more than 800 small churches and it is well-known as the island of Virgin Mary. The church of Virgin Mary was built in 1830 and inside the church there is the miraculous icon of Virgin Mary. In 1822 after the 1821 revolution, sister Pelagia, a nun from the Kechrovouni abbey, envisioned Virgin Mary who showed her the locality where the icon was buried .In 1823 according to the directions of the nun, the icon was found intact, although it was 850 years buried in the ground. All those years it is said that this icon has therapeutic forces and the church of Virgin Mary became the centre of adoration of Orthodox Christians.
Transportation in Tinos Greece is very easy because the island has lot’s of busses and taxi. Chora in Tinos, it is a traditional Cycladic capital with narrow streets and whitewashed houses. Scattered in the villages of Tinos are found 1300 white dovecotes all elaborate decorated. The stock farming of pigeons was imported in Tinos from Venetians. Tinos island apart from its history, has also marvelous beaches. Some of them are isolated, some others are sandy, some others rocky, but all are with crystal waters. We can name some of the beaches, such as Kionia, St. Fokas,  Livadia , Kolympitra etc.

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