Findings indicate that Tinos had already been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Carians are considered to be its first settlers coming from Asia Minor with Tino as their leader, from whom the island took its name.

During the Classical Age, the capital city was located near the sea, in the wider region of what we know today as Chora. The Sanctuary of Poseidon in Kionia was an important religious center until the 3rd century BC.

Yet, little is known about Tinos until 1200. By then, the remaining residents had moved inland to avoid the frequent pirate raids. In 1207 the island passed to the Venetians. It is then that Gkizi brothers assumed the island's governance, built a castle in Exomvourgo and Tinos begins to live better and certainly safer days. The castle remained impregnable until 1715 when the island was occupied by the Turks. Following on, Exomvourgo was deserted and the capital transferred to Chora, where it is until today.

In 1821, Tinos rised up together with the rest of Greece against the Ottoman Empire and Pyrgos village was the first in this initiative. The Icon of the Immaculate Conception that was miraculously discovered on the island was considered to be a divine sign thereby raising the Greek morale during the Revolution. Faithful people from all over Greece and Greeks abroad made donations for the construction of the Church of Evangelistria, better known as Lady of Tinos. Since then, the island's history is intertwined with the Lady of Tinos.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Greek-Italian war in mid-August 1940, an Italian submarine torpedoed at the port of Tinos the warship "Elli" that was taking part in the celebrations for the Assumption.