The first to settle in Skopelos  island were Minoan Cretans. They were led by Stafylos,whose tomb was discovered in 1927 in a location bearing the same name. The Cretans brought in the island the cultivation of vines and olive trees. According to the mythical tradition, in the 13th century B.C., Pelias, the half-mythical Thessalian King of Iolkos, who had usurped the power of his brother Aeson, drove away the Cretans and extended his rule to the island. It was Pelias who obliged his nephew
Jason, the contender for the throne who had shown up one-sandaled, to organize the argonautic expedition and bring him the Golden Fleece from Kolchis, in order to be
granted the right to rule. In historical times Skopelos  island, a constant producer of a famous wine renowned for its aphrodisiac qualities, had been a member of the Athenian Alliance. In 340 B.C.
Philip of Macedonia destroyed Skopelos  island along with ancient Alonnisos. After that
the island declined and was later used by the Byzantines as a place of exile. After the conquest of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204, Skopelos  island was initially annexed to the duchy of Naxos but in the sequel passed to the hands of brothers Gizi who were notorious pirates. But not much later it was taken by the Italian Knight Likarios who was in the service of the emperor of Byzantium Michael the eighth, Paleologos. Thus Skopelos  island remained a portion of Byzantium until 1453, when at the
petition of the inhabitants who wanted to avoid the Turks, the Venetians took over
the rule. However, in 1538, the terrible Moslem pirate Barbarossa conquered the island
on behalf of the Sultan, slaughtered the inhabitants, broke up the government and desolated the land. Until the 17th century Skopelos  island remained uninhabited.Then, little by little, people began to settle in, although they suffered from frequent raids by pirates. In prerevolutionary Greece, in 1808, it became the hide-out of the fighters Nikotsaras and Yiannis Stathas. Officially it was incorporated into Greece along with the rest of the Sporades in 1823.In 1940 a terrible epidemic of phylloxera destroyed forever the famous vineyards of the island.