The presence of the first human life in Ios is located somewhere in the Early Cycladic age. The next millennium, Ios loses its autonomy.

Ios is one of the towns that claim the origin of Homer. During the Classic Period Ios formed part of the First and Second Athenian Alliance.

By 350 b.C. Ios was the first town to mint coins with the figure of Homer. The island was later conquered by the Romans and since 2nd c. aC was a place of exile. During the Byzantine Period there is no remarkable change in the progress and evolution of the island. Ios was later conquered several times, by the Francs, the pirates, the Ottomans.

By 1830 Ios was finally a part of the Greek state. Its fate didn’t change neither during the Second World War, while Ios was under Italian and German occupation.

Its worth to notice that Ios has also faced two major phases of migration. The first one was during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The second one, which was way too intense, took place in the middle of the 20th century, with Athens and Pireus as major destinations.