Syros, an ideal place

The seafaring town! A significant presence in the Aegean. Ermoupoli was born and forged in the flames of the National Revolution of 1821 from refugees who fled Chios, Psara, Kydonia, Kassos, etc., when extensive massacres were perpetrated by the Turks. The Aegean was shocked with the cries of uprooted people looking for a new home. And then, the best shelter was found. Syros! It was the ideal place.

The island had nοt been touched by war. It was free and protected by a great European power, France. The first refugees were dirt poor and dressed in rags, but they were rich in experience and knowledge. Very soon, alreadγ ίn the years of Capodistria, the first Governor of Greece, the new town begins a peaceful and productive revolution that will lead it to prosperity. The town was dedicated to Hermes, the god of gainful commerce. Ιη the 19th century the town became the most important commercial and shipping centre of liberated Greece. "Ιn Ermoupolis, Greece was reborn..." Eleftherios Venizelos once said. The economic prosperity of Ermoupoli was accompanied by social evolution and cultural flowering. In the city of Kerdood and Scholarly Hermes as well, a genuine Greek urban class was created for the first time. It generated a lively social and literary activity. Cultural centres, theatres, concert halls, clubs, charitable institutions, printing shops, libraries and a particularly diverse press pushed Ermoupolis forward. The town's name went beyond the boundaries of the Aegean and was heard in the salons of Europe. The radiance of the city's wealth and spirit created the first tourist flow towards Greece.