While mainland Greece falls into the hands of the Turks, it was
the Venetians that ruled Skiathos until 1538, when the island
was once and for all conquered by the Ottomans: the Turk
corsair/Grand-Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa takes advantage
of the turning of some residents against the Venetians to
takes over Kastro after a 6day siege, commencing the almost
3 centuries of Turkish rule of the island.
Thus, the Turkish rule of Skiathos begins in 1538, even if on paper that happens in 1540, when the treaty or “Capitulation” was signed between Venice and the Ottoman Empire. With that Capitulation, Skiathos and other Aegean islands were given to the Turks and the Kapudan Pasha, Ottoman Grand Admiral. Since the final Ottoman occupation in 1538 until the liberation, the Voivode was the one governing the island with the participation of demogerons or proestoi (elders or kodjabashis) which were elected yearly by a vote of the most important residents of Kastro in a meeting in the Church of Christo. Every year the residents paid a tax called haraç. All the islanders had to serve the Turkish fleet except for a period of time when this obligatory service was turned into a monetary levy.
In 1576, Skiathos and Skopelos had one Bishop, 50-70 priests and 2000 houses. In 1660, the Venetian Admiral Francesco Morosini seizes Kastro and brings back the Venetian Rule for the third and final time. The Turks, however, come back very quickly continuing their rule of the island until the commencement of the Greek Revolution.
Throughout the years, the Turks that lived in Skiathos diminished. The office of Voivode was bought off by the locals, while the rest of the Turkish authorities weren’t present on the island most of the time, and their services were provided by the demogerons that gradually obtained more and more privileges. Nonetheless, the residents kept suffering from piracy that didn’t stop even then.
In the beginning of the 18th century, shipbuilding began and shipping flourished, with transports and trade in the places close to Skiathos. With bigger ships later on they managed to reach Egypt and the north African coast and the Black Sea.
Under the guidance of demogeron Alexandros Logothetes, great-grandfather of both Papadiamantis and the important agent of the Greek Enlightenment Epiphanios Dimitriadis, Skiathos officially joins the revolutionary fight. A very significant event for the island and the entire Greek state is that the first Greek flag with a white cross on a blue background was created in 1807 in the Monastery of Evangelistria in Skiathos.