The first inhabitants of the island of Leros were the Parthians in the neolitical period between 8000 and 3000 BC. The Phoenicians and Minoans (from Crete) lived on the island untill they were chased away by the Dorians. After the Persian wars Leros became a member of the Athenian Alliance.

In Byzantine times lots of beautiful churches were build on the island and the castle op Lepides (Paliokastro) was build. In 1314 Leros was occupied by the Knights of Saint John of Rhodes untill in 1523 the Turks invaded the island.

Between 1912 and 1943 the island was occupied by the Italians who erected lots of buildings and put a big mark on the architecture. They turned the island into an Italian marine basis. The new town of Lakki was born. Only in 1948 Leros became a part of modern Greece again. All the large buildings that were created during the reign of Mussolini were deserted, and the Greek government send people with psychich problems to the island to house them there (in Lakki). Many inhabitants of Leros found a job in the clinics. This last fact stops a lot of people from travelling to the island. I had read about this before I visited Leros but I did not notice anything about it when I was there, so this shouldn't keep you from visiting this nice, quiet island.