Ermoupoli (Greek: Ερμούπολη) stands on a naturally amphitheatrical site, with neo-classical buildings, old mansions, and white houses cascading down to the harbour.
Dubbed the "City of Hermes", Syros has numerous churches, such as Metamorphosis, Koimisis, St. Demetrius, Three Hierarchs, Anastasis, Evangelistria, and St. Nicolas.
From the cathedral visitors have a panoramic view of the neighbouring islands of Tinos, Delos, Mykonos, Paros, Andros and Naxos.
At the end of ancient times, barbarian raids and piracy, which affected the Aegean for many centuries, led Syros to decline.
The island, along with the other Cyclades, was devastated several times during the Middle Ages by raiders from different directions including Sicilians, Arabs, Turks and Venetians.
As part of the Duchy of the Archipelago, Syros would remain under Venetian rule until 1566 although after 1540 this was only maintained by payment of tribute to the Ottoman Sultan.
[5] However, negotiations of the local authorities with the Ottomans gave the Cyclades substantial privileges, such as religious freedom and the reduction of taxes.
From the time of the island's occupation by the Turks in the 16th century, the Greeks established an Orthodox metropolitan on Syros: Joseph[6] is the earliest known, along with Symeon who died in 1594[7] and Ignatius in 1596.
[11] The most celebrated among them is Ioannis Andreas Kargas, whom the Turks strangled in 1617 because he refused to convert to Islam and because he was helping Greek revolutionaries hiding on the island.
Moreover, the special social, religious and institutional conditions prevailing on the island, led Syriots to neutrality at the beginning of the Greek Revolution in 1821.
As a result, Syros became a secure shelter during the Revolution, attracting many Greek refugees from Asia Minor, Chios, Spetses, Psara, Aivali, Smyrna, Kydonia, Kassos and other places.
The island returned to peace and tranquility, Syros became known as a cross-road in the Aegean and as an international commercial center linking Western Europe and the Mediterranean sea to the East.
Under Ioannis Kapodistrias (Giovanni Capo D'Istria), the first Governor of the new state, the population of Ermoupolis had reached 13,805 residents and the city had evolved into a seat of government.
A number of charitable institutions for public health and social services were established during this period: orphanages, poorhouses and a mental hospital.
Newcomers, mainly mariners and tradesmen, gave the island a new dynamic, which along with its demographic and economic development, turned it into an administrative and cultural centre.
Many landmarks such as the City Hall (designed by the German architect Ernst Ziller), the Apollo Theatre by the Italian architect Pietro Campo (a miniature version of the La Scala in Milan), the main Library, the General Hospital of Syros (Vardakeio-Proio), Miaoulis square and other buildings were built during that period of time.
Passing through on 6 April 1864, the effect of all the sugary marble is such that the English artist Edward Lear, refers to the town fondly in his diary as "the old sparkly pile".
Most public buildings, churches, schools, stadiums and many mansions were built in the same elegant and neoclassical style, making Ermoupoli at the time a very modern city with a unique character.
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.
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").
As a result of the imperial ambitions and fascist ideology of Benito Mussolini's Italy, which invaded and occupied Syros during World War II, the island's inhabitants experienced a devastating famine causing thousands of deaths.
However, already since the 1980s, 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.
Syros also has a British cemetery where various people are buried, including many seamen and servicemen who died in the Cyclades region, particularly during the Second World War.
Metamorphosis is the most important Orthodox church on the island, Kimisis tis Theotokou is also significant and noted for the fact that it hosts a masterpiece by painter El Greco.