Ímbros

Imbros lies in the northern Aegean near the entrance to the Dardanelles. In antiquity it was an Athenian cleruchy, whose colonists retained their citizenship, and its inhabitants honored the Cabeiri among their gods. The Castilian envoy Ruy González de Clavijo found the island under Byzantine rule during his journey to Timur's court in the early 15th century.

After Constantinople fell in 1453, the local leader Michael Critoboulos helped arrange a peaceful surrender to the Ottomans. In return for taxes and loyalty, the island received a measure of autonomy under a local administrator. Ottoman and Venetian rule alternated before the Ottomans established lasting control in 1479. Their fleets met again off Imbros in 1717, when a hard-fought naval battle ended without a decisive victor.