Fourni is a complex of twenty islands located between Ikaria and Samos islands. In ancient times, Fourni was known as Korasioi Islands (this name is still used for the rocky islet of Korasida). Porfyrios, a philosopher of the Hellenistic Era (1st century AD), referred to them as Korseas, a name that is saved to our days.
The Miletians (Ionians) were the first to colonise the island due to the quarries and they were traveling there to procure rocks and build the opposite Miletus. During the byzantine and medieval times, pirates chose this island to be their anchor point. There are many legends of treasures.
In any case, people fled the island at that time and it was only in 1770 that the island was re-inhabited and obtained the structure and form that it has today. The first houses built were huts. Each hut was long and narrow, built from slate rocks and roofs were covered with beams and juniper tree (a type of wood found on the island). This mode of construction was called “dora”. Houses now have fireplace, recesses in the walls with containers keeping the goods produced, specially built bed that was waterproof and are furnished with wooden furniture (sofra tables and stools). The first house in the plain was built in 1885 and it has survived until today. Today the island’s Chora has beautiful narrow alleys, traditional taverns and modern houses with apparent influences from the past.