Greece: Day 3, Exploring Ermoupoli

seastackseastack Registered Users Posts: 716 Major grins
edited November 3, 2008 in Journeys
day3syros_04.jpg


Exploring Ermoupoli

The main city on the Greek island of Syros is Ermoupoli, the largest single community in the Cyclades island group and the center of government. The total population of the island is about 20,000.

At one time Ermoupoli was the largest port and shipyard in Greece. Long since eclipsed by Piraeus, Ermoupolis still holds an important shipyard and retains some of its prominence as a port.

The weather on Syros is wonderful with rain maybe a total of 20 days out of the year. I arrived on one of those 20 days but by the next morning the skies had cleared for a beautiful Aegean day.


day3syros_01.jpg
Marble streets, marble square, marble walkways ... in Ermoupoli everything is marble.

day3syros_02.jpg

day3syros_03.jpg
This is my innkeeper of Paradise (the name of the inn where I stayed for 30 euro a night), a very kind man who didn't speak a word of English but we got along wonderfully.

day3syros_05.jpg
In exploring Syros I went to one of the many, many Greek Orthodox churches ...

day3syros_06.jpg
... and stayed to hang out at a wedding for awhile. The big Canon 5D was just too intrusive so I pulled out my point and shoot and made a few frames.

day3syros_07.jpg
Greek weddings are amazing events with much ceremony, and much fun.

day3syros_08.jpg
And everyone dresses to the nines.


day3syros_09.jpg
The port city of Ermopoulis lies below two hills, each with their own cathedrals - one Greek, one Catholic. The populated hill on the left is the medieval town of Ano Syros built by the Venetians in the 13th Century. People living here are mostly Roman Catholic. The hill on the right is considered part of Ermoupoli and capped with an incredible Greek Orthodox church (As it turns out, I kept meeting the priest of this church around Ermoupolis) The residents of this hill are mostly Greek Orthodox. While hundreds of years of tradition, faiths, and geography separate the people of these two hills, little else does. They often join to celebrate each others holidays.

day3syros_010.jpg
Twilight over the Aegean.

day3syros_011.jpg
The end of a good day exploring Ermoupoli, making connections with people and figuring out the good places for photos.

Comments

  • seastackseastack Registered Users Posts: 716 Major grins
    edited November 3, 2008
    my apologies, i don't know how i posted this thread twice but if a Mod could delete this one, it would be appreciated.

    thanks, tom
Sign In or Register to comment.