 Historically, a small traditional fishing village, the town itself has been heavily developed and with more luxury villas now outside it, but it remains a summer social centre heavily visited by tourists, particularly popular with visitors from Britain and Italy.The town is said to have been founded during the reign of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus in the 3rd Century BC, as a supply post during his war with Rome.After the Roman conquest of the island in 230 BC, many Emperors visited, most prominently Emperor Nero, who came to a Temple to Zeus here.