SKYROS

Modern Greek Skros, island, the largest and easternmost of the northern Sporades in the Aegean Sea, Greece. The island has an area of 81 square miles (210 square km). On the island's deeply indented southern coast is found the main harbour, Linari, while in the north is Skros, the capital, on the site of the ancient capital. The southern part of the island culminates in Mount Kokhlas (2,602 feet ). Traditionally the island was a sanctuary of the legendary hero Achilles, and there Theseus, king of Athens, was treacherously killed. In 475 BC it was seized by Athens; when the Romans took it in 196 BC, it was under Macedonian rule. Present-day Skyros is a resort. Pop. (1981) 2,757.