The oldest findings of human habitation that were discovered in Spetses go back to the pro-helladic period (3rd Millennium B.C.). The Greek island is mentioned by the excursionist Pafsania by the name Pytyoussa which means piney,a characteristic that has been preserved until today. According to the most prevalent derivation today's name comes from the Venetian IsoIa di Spezzie island of fragrant plants), while a lot later appear also the name Petsa/Petses.Most probably at the end of the 15th century in Spetses (which had very few habitats till then) settled Albanian - speaking from the neighboring Peloponnesus and during the next centuries the colonization of the islandContinued with the creation of the first core settlement at Kasteli.
According to the father superior Fourmont Spetses in 1730 were an insignificant settlement and until the Turkish-russian war of the years 1768-1774 it remained a small village, the habitats of which were involved with agriculture and fishing, as mentioned by the French officer Bellin, who visited the island during that period.Right after though, in the few decades that intermediate until the Revolution of 1821, the island flourished, as its habitants go in shipping by building "latinadika", "sahtouria" and other bigger ships, that sailed in the whole Mediterranean and Black sea. The factors that contributed to the development of the shipping and commercial activity of Spetses and therefore to their financial and spiritual flourishing at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th were the new capabilities that were given to the greek commercial shipping by the tourk-ish-russian convention of Kioutsouk kainartzi (1774), the self management that the island ensured and primarily the break through from the greek sailors of the exclusion that England had enforced at the port of the French country during Napoleons- wars for the transfer of grains, in combination to the disappearance of the French ships from the eastern Mediterranean. The performance of the Spetsonians in the sea can be seen also by their obligation to offer sailors to serve at the tourk-ish army a fact that- in combination with the effort to deal with the piracy- had as a result for the crew of the Spetsiotic ships to gain experience on war, that proved to be very valuable at the naval battles during the Revolution.
Spetses was the first island in which the Revolution was declared on the 3 of April 1821, with the first in the battle P.Botassi, G.Panou, and others Immediately, the Spetsonians sent representatives in Hydra and to other islands to urge their habitants to rise in rebellion, while at the same time they decided to participate with their ships at the sea blockades of Nafplio and Monemvassia (where Laskarina Boubouli, the well known Bouboulina stood out)In general, determinative was the contribution of the island to the naval battles of the Greeks (besiege of coastal forts, replenishment, participation to the defense of greek fort positions, rescue of military forces and non-combatant, blockage of the movements of the enemy fleet for the transportation of troops and accoutrements and others). At the beginning of September 1822 the island got into serious danger from the tourkish fleet and the defense that was taken over by the civic archon Chantzigiannis Mexis with few armed and P.Kolokotronis with 400 Pelopo-nnesians (the non-combatants had been moved to Hydra). Finally, at the 8th of September the greek ships (56 war ships and 16 fire ships), at a sea battle that took place at the sea area between Spetses and Ermionida, made the tourkish fleet run away by stopping it from replenishing the besieged Nafplio, a fact that turned out to be benefactor for the war in Peloponnesus .
This success was primarily due to the surprise and the panic of the enemy from the venturesome actions of two fire -sailors, A. Pipinos from Hydra and k.Barbatsi from Spetses.After the establishment of the greek state the shipping and naval architecture activity of the Spetsonians remained active until at least the decade of the 1870 ( during that year the island had a fleet of 223 big sailing ships), when in fact the actual replacement of the sailing ship shipping from the steam yachts. During the 20th century the island developed into a cosmopolitan turist center, while from 2004 started its operation and school for tourist management and from the Technical School of Pireus .