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Thassos History
Inhabited since the Neolithic period, the island had its first permanent settlement in the 7th century B.C., when the Parians came to mine the gold that was then plentiful on the island. Throughout the period of their rule and until 492 B.C., the island developed a substantial fleet and its rulers enjoyed a good deal of economic success thanks to the gold mining and the quarrying of the plentiful white marble. In 492 B.C., the Persians destroyed the Thassian fleets, and after a three-year battle, the Athenians took control, followed by a variety of rulers alternating between Athenian, Spartan, the Delian League, and the Macedonians until 197 B.C. From that time began the longest period of peace and prosperity under Roman rule, which lasted until the Byzantine period, well into the 15th century. With a brief period of Genoese occupation, the island was ruled by the Turks, with a mostly continuous occupation from 1460 until 1912, when the island is liberated and united with Greece.
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