Summer 2017 Projects - July - Syros

This year lead me to places I had previously gone before, but never had the chance to explore in depth because of time restrains.  Greece has many beautiful places to visit and sometimes, even the town you spend most of your life has hidden gems, the ones you have to know where to look for.  If you spend some time online researching ahead, there is much information for you and planning gets easier and more efficient.  You can also save money planning ahead and visit more places than you would, than if you didn't plan at all. So, this summer lead me to beautiful Syros island, where I had previously seen just the front side of Ermoupolis from the ship deck while going to Santorini some years ago.  We had 5 days to explore the island of Syros and of course they were not nearly enough.

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Syros is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located 144 km south-east of Athens. The area of the island is 83.6 square km and it has more or less 21.507 inhabitants.  Ermoupoli stands on a naturally amphitheatrical site, with neo-classical buildings, old mansions and white houses cascading down to the harbor. The City Hall, where Miaoulis Square lies, is ringed with cafes and seating areas under palm trees. The "City of Hermes" has numerous churches both Catholic and Greek-Orthodox with beautiful decorations and frescos. The quarter of the town known as Vaporia is where the sea captains lived. Along its narrow streets, stand numerous neo-classical mansions.  Ano Syros is the second town of Syros and was built by the Venetians at the beginning of the 13th century on the hill of San Giorgio, north-west of Hermoupolis. 

Ano Syros maintains a medieval atmosphere. Innumerable steps between narrow streets and houses with colored doors lead to the top of the town. The medieval settlement of Ano Syros is accessible by car, but the town is served mostly by marble steps. The Catholic cathedral of Saint George dominates Ano Syros. The cathedral church was constructed during the 13th century. From the cathedral, visitors have a panoramic view of the neighboring islands of Tinos, Delos, Mykonos, Paros, Andros and Naxos.

With the foundation of the Greek state, the Catholic population of the island was hellenized and changed their Latin family names to Greek ones, (e.g. the family name Vuccino to Voutsinos, Russo to Roussos, Vacondio to Vakondios, Daleggio to Dalezios, Salsa to Salsapoulos, 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. Because of the Venetian domination from the Middle Ages and onwards, the islanders had been exclusively Roman Catholic. However, due to immigration from other islands, Catholics now constitute some 47% of the population. The majority of the population are Greek Orthodox. They live peacefully side by side. Intermarriage between Churches is very common in Syros. Syros is one of a few places where Catholics and Orthodox share a common date for Easter, which in Syros' case, is the Orthodox date.

Between 1822 and 1865, Ermoupoli was rebuilt in a Neoclassical style, merging Greek Classicism with elements of the Renaissance. Many landmarks such as the City Hall (designed by the famous German architect Ernst Ziller), the Apollo Theatre by the Italian architect Pietro Campo (a miniature version of the La Scala in Milano), the main Library, the General Hospital of Syros (Vardakeio-Proio), Miaoulis square and other buildings were built during that period of time.  Other memorable buildings are the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Ermoupolis, patron saint of Syros, Anastaseos church in Vrodado, Saint George's Cathedral (Roman Catholic), Catholic Church of Saint John (1640) in Ano Syros, Apollo Theatre, Kimisis tis Theotokou noted for the fact that it hosts a masterpiece by painter El Greco, old prison ruins the industrial museum in Ermoupoli Greek-Orthodox cemetery and many more.

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In my opinion Ermoupolis is an overcrowded city with many cars and lack of parking space.  People are kind and friendly, "many good people in one place" as I found out.  They always stop for pedestrians, they have always something nice to say even though the economic crisis in Greece has left its marks on them, too.  Food is nice and cheap if you don't look for something extremely special, but there are exceptions.  City buses are free to ride and always on time, something that made me great impression, but you need to ride KTEL busses (which are relatively new) with a cheap fare to reach some of the villages around the island as Kini, Galissas, Poseidonia etc.  However, the roads are narrow and you need to be careful if renting a bike or car. 

Kini and Galissas are two of the most beautiful beaches for family vacations on the island.  There is sand in and out of the crystal clear waters and are usually not crowded with people.  The sea is great for snorkeling and is protected against the north winds of August.  As far as taverns and restaurants are concerned, there are various types and various prices involved depending what you order.  "Safe choices" are fish, calamari rolls, steaks, gyros and souvlaki.

Ermoupoli is full of narrow streets like Ano Syros and Vrodado so a wide angle lens is a must.  But you will also need a telephoto lens for the distant buildings and separating the theme in your frames, but there is less color around than you would expect.  In the narrow streets you will need HDR shots or expended dynamic depth with increased saturation.