Syros Hotel
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Syros
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A few words about Syros:
Syros (ΣΥΡΟΣ in Greek) is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is considered the "capital" of the Cyclades. Because of the Venetian domination from the Middle Ages onwards, the islanders used to be exclusively Roman Catholic. However, due to immigration from other islands, Catholics now constitute some 40% of the population.
Hermoupolis and Ano Syros
Hermoupolis, the "Queen of the Cyclades", stands on a naturally
amphitheatrical site, with neo-classical buildings, old mansions and white
houses cascading down to the harbour. The City Hall, where Miaoulis Square
lies ringed with cafes and with seating areas under palm trees, has a grandeur
all of its own. The "City of Hermes" has numerous magnificent churches, the
most interesting of which are Metamorphosis, Koimisis, St Demetrius, Three
Hierarchs, Anastasis, Evangelistria and St Nicolas. The Archaeological Museum
has a collection of notable finds and the Municipal Library contains numerous
interesting and rare editions. The quarter of the town known as Vaporia, where
the sea captains lived, is of special interest. Along its narrow streets stand
numerous neo-classical mansions.
Ano Syros is the second town of the Island and was built by the Venetians at
the beginning of the 13th century on the hill of San Georgio, north-west of
Hermoupolis. Ano Syros maintains its enchanting medieval atmosphere.
Innumerable steps between narrow streets and houses with coloured doors lead
you to the top of the town, which makes for some adventurous exploration. The
medieval settlement of Ano Syros is not accessible by car, the town is
serviced mostly by marble steps. The distance from the harbour up to the main
entry point of the town is approximately 3500 metres. The catholic basilica of
San Georgio dominates Ano Syros. The church was constructed during the 13th
century. From here the visitor enjoys a panoramic view of the neighbouring
islands of Tinos, Delos, Mykonos, Paros and Naxos.
History
During Roman times the capital of Syros was situated in the area of
contemporary Hermoupolis. At the end of ancient times, the barbaric raids and
the plague of piracy, which had scourged the Aegean for many centuries, led
Syros to decline. In the Byzantine years Syros constituted together with the
rest of the Cycladic islands, part of the Aegean Dominion. After the overthrow
of the Byzantium by the Venetian/Francs in 1204, Syros came under Venetian
domination and was included in the Ducat of the Aegean. Meanwhile
amphitheatric Ano Syros was inhabited. During the Latin period, the majority
of the local community were Roman Catholics, but maintained the Greek
language. During the reign of almost three and a half centuries of the Ducat
of the Aegean, Syros had a singular feudal regime. In the middle of the 16th
century, the Ottoman fleet occupied the island and the Ducat fell apart.
However the negotiations of the local authorities with the Ottoman Empire led
to the offer of substantial privileges to the Cycladic islands such as the
reduction of taxation and religious freedom.
At the same time, following an agreement between France and the Vatican with
the Ottoman authorities, the Catholics of the island came under the protection
of France and Rome. A privilege that was maintained for centuries. After the
second half of the 17th century a period of economic recovery of the Aegean
began, which reached its height during the transition from the 18th to the
19th century. The special regime of the islands allowed the development of
local self-government. The decline of piracy since the beginning of the 19th
century had as a result the gradual liberation of the sea routes of the
Eastern Mediterranean. Due to its crucial geographical position Syros became
known as a maritime way-point. Moreover the special social, religious, and
institutional conditions prevailing on the island led the Syriots to
neutrality at the beginning of the Greek Revolution in 1821. As a result,
Syros became a secure shelter during the Revolution and attracted many Greek
refugees from Asia Minor, Chios, Spetses, Psara, Aivali, Smyrna, Kydonia,
Kassos and other places. The newcomers, mainly mariners and tradesmen, gave a
new dynamism to the island which together with its demographic and economic
development, was transformed into an administrative and cultural centre.
In 1822-1865 Hermoupolis was rebuilt in a Neoclassical style, merging Greek
Classism with elements of the Renaissance. Many landmarks such as the City
Hall (designed by the famous German architect Ernst Ziller),the theatre
Apollon by the Italian architect Campo (a miniature version of La Scala di
Milano), the main Library, the General Hospital of Syros (Vardakio-Proio),
Miaoulis square and more.
Most public buildings, Churches, Schools, stadium and many mansions were built
in the same elegant and neoclassical style, making Hermoupolis at the time, a
very modern city with a unique character. As a result Syros changed almost
overnight from a rather quiet island into a vigorous centre of crafts,
industry and production. Also, due to its large excellent port at Hermoupolis
it became a major centre for ship building and refitting. Neorion was the
first shipyard of Greece. To this very day (2005) it remains a place where
many ships are serviced and refitted.
There is a British Cemetery in Syros at Hermoupolis where various people are
burried including many seaman and servicemen who died in the Cyclades region,
particularly during the Second World War. Many Embassies and Consulates of
countries such as France, England, Italy, The Netherlands and the Scandinavian
Countries connect Syros with other European Capitals.
Because of the Venetian domination from the Middle Ages onwards, the islanders
were once exclusively Roman Catholic. However, due to immigration from other
islands, Catholics now constitute some 40% of the population. The great
majority of the population are Greek Orthodox. They live side by side very
peacefully. Intermarriage between denominations is very common in Syros.
The DIOCESE OF SYRA (SYRENSIS).("The Pope's Island") was a Latin diocese,
suffragan of Naxos, comprising the Island of Syros in the Aegean Sea. The
island has an area of about thirty-one square miles and 32,000 inhabitants
today. It was first called Syra ,then Syros or Siros, and appears in ancient
times to have been inhabited by the Phoenicians. It was the country of the
swineherd Eumaeus who described it at length (Odyssey, XV, 403 sq.) and of the
philosopher Pherecydes, the teacher of Pythagoras. It possessed two leading
cities, Syros (now the modern Hermoupolis) and another city on the western
coast where stands to-day Maria della Grazia.
The largest villages are Galissas, Phinicas, Vari, Mana, Kini and Possidonia.
The island played no role in antiquity nor in the Christian epoch, it was not
even a diocese at a time when even the smallest island possessed its bishop.
Devastated several times during the Middle Ages with the other Cyclades by the
Sicilians, Arabs, Turks, and Venetians, it was definitively conquered by these
last in 1204 under the leadership of Marco Sanudo. They kept it until 1522
when the corsair Barbarossa took possession of it for the Turks. During the
Othoman Empire Syros came under the protection of France and the Vatican. For
that reason Syros was named in history "THE POPE'S ISLAND". After 1821 it was
annexed to the Hellenic kingdom. The Venetians established there a Latin
bishopric which was subject to the Archbishopric of Athens until 1525,
afterwards to that of Naxos. The list of titulars may be found in Le Quien (Oriens
christianus, III, 865-868) and in Eubel (Hierarchia catholica medii aevi, I,
492; II, 267; III, 324). The most celebrated among them is the Venerable John
Andrew Carga, strangled by the Turks in 1617 because he refused to become a
Muslim and because he was helping the Greek revolutionairies hiding on the
Island (Pétridès in "Revue de l'Orient chrétien", V, 407-422). From the
occupation of the island by the Turks in the sixteenth century, the Greeks
established there a metropolitan: Joseph (Le Quien, op. cit., II, 233) is the
earliest known, with Symeon who died in 1594 (Ampelas, "Histoire de Syros",
411) and Ignatius in 1596 (Miklosich and Mueller, "Acta patriarchatus
constantinopolitani", V, 461). The island became for the most part Catholic (Ricaut,
"Histoire de l'estat présent de l"Eglise grecque", 361; Hilaire de Barenton,
"La France Catholique en Orient", 171-173).
Syros took no part in the Greek revolt of 1821 however was inundated with
refugees from Chios, Spetses, Psara, Aivali, Smyrna, Kydonia, Kassos, Asia
Minor and other parts of Greece. They flocked to the Island and founded the
town of Hermoupolis, which rapidly became the leading port of Greece.
Hermoupolis was designed by well known European architects such as Ziller and
Campo. Since 1870 the ports of Piraeus and Patras have taken greatly from its
commercial importance. The diocese numbers 9000 Catholics, 21 secular priests
and 8 regulars, 7 parishes, 7 churches with a resident priest, 3 without a
priest, and 56 chapels. The Capuchins and Jesuits have each an establishment;
the Sisters of Charity, 2 houses, one of which is a hospital; the Sisters of
St Joseph of the Apparition have a boarding school and St George, a De La
Salle boys Public School.
With the foundation of the Greek State the Catholic population of the island
were Hellenized and changed their Latin family names to Greek. The family name
Vuccino to Voutsinos, Russo to Roussos, Vacondio to Vakondios, Daleggio to
Dalezios, Freri to Freris just to mention a few. However there was no problem
of integration between the old residents of Syros, mostly Roman Catholics and
the newly arrived refugees, mostly Greek Orthodox. The island returned to
peace and tranquility, Syros became known as a cross-roads in the Aegean and
as an international commercial center linking Western Europe and the
Mediterranean sea to the East. In 1822 began the construction of the first
buildings and in 1824 the first Orthodox Church Metamorphosis and the largest
Greek Sanatorium was constructed.
Economy
Since 1830 the commerce of fabrics, silk, ship building, leather and iron
developed on Syros and at the same time a powerful banking system was created.
During 1831 Syros played a prominent role in the establishment of the new
Greek Constitution. Under Ioannis Kapodistrias (Giovanni Capo D'Istria) the
first President of the new state, the population of Hermoupolis had reached
13,805 residents and the city had evolved into a seat of Government. It had a
Commercial Court of Law, a Post Office (one of Greece's fisrt), insurance
brokerages, the first Public School, a branch of The National Bank, Art
Gallery, Museum, Library, a Social Club for the elite society etc. However in
1854 cholera and a series of other epidemics unfortunately plunged Syros into
mourning. A number of charitable institutions for Public Health and Social
Services were established during this period: Orphanages, Poorhouses and a
mental hospital. The tremendous growth and development of Hermoupolis
continued and until 1860 Syros was the most important commercial harbour in
Greece. Together with commerce and ship building, construction and public
works were also developed. The renowned Greek Steamship Company was founded in
1856. The European architects (mainly Germans and Italians) and also Greeks
who participated in the design and planning of Hermoupolis respected the
classical and ancient Greek architecture and harmonized it with the
romanticism of the West. Hermoupolis enjoys the greatest density in the
neoclassical history of architecture. The prosperity of Syros was connected
with an important development of social and cultural life. The evolutionary
cycle was completed with the creation of the first industrial units during the
decade of 1860-1870. Then followed a period of decline, as sailing gave way to
steam, the importance of the geographical situation of the island was reduced,
and Piraeus harbor finally took the predominant position in Greece.
Beginning at the end of the 19th century and for several decades a temporary
economic recovery took place, due to the development of the textile industry
(“Foustanos-Karellas-Velissaropoulos & Co”). The second world war dealt a
serious blow to Syros, as in every economic centre in Greece. However, already
since the eighties, along with the generalized economic recovery and the rise
of the living standards in Greece, elements of improvement appeared with
tourism as its central axis. At the same time the reopening of the Neorion
shipyards, as well as a number of other activities, indicate that Syros is on
an upward trend. Hermoupolis today has 7 elementary schools, 4 Gymnasiums
(high schools), 2 technical schools and the Aegean University with a
department of fine Arts and system design, with a proposed future addition in
Applied Arts and Visual Arts. The Syros airport, the Aegean casino, the
frequent passenger boat transportation system and all other modern amenities
are helping to atract many domestic and foreign tourists to the island year
round. Economic recovery is back once again to this modern and cosmopolitan
oasis, with two civilizations and two religions.
Famous people of Syros
Emmanuel Roidis
Markos Vamvakaris (1905 - February 8, 1972), musician
Manos Eleftheriou, lyricist
Pherecydes, philosopher
Antonio Gregorio Vuccino (Voutsinos) A.A. (1891-1968), Archbishop of Corfù,
Zante and Cefalonia, Greece.
Pantoleon A. Foustanos, industrialist
Demetrios Vikelas
Demetrios Vikelas (February 15, 1835 – July 20, 1908) was the first president
of the International Olympic Committee from 1894 to 1896.
He was born in Hermoupolis. Vikelas represented the Pan-Hellenic Gymnastic
Club at the 1894 Paris congress convened by Pierre de Coubertin, where the
modern Olympic Movement was founded. Originally, it had been De Coubertin's
idea to hold the first celebration of the modern Olympics in Paris in 1900,
but Vikelas convinced him and the newly created IOC that they should be held
in Athens. As the constitution of the IOC at that time required the IOC
president to be from the country which would host the next Games, Vikelas
became the IOC's first president.
After these first Olympics, which proved a success, Vikelas withdrew from the
IOC and turned his attentions elsewhere. He died in Athens, aged 73. Today the
Sport Center (Stadium) in Hermoupolis, which seats 2000 people with an
Olympic-size swimming pool, four tennis courts, two gym halls, basket and
volleyball courts, track and field, floor football court and soccer field,
bears Demetrios Vikelas' name.
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