Syros or Syra. A Historical Overview

             The island of Syros has shared the fortunes of the Cycladic group throughout its long history, and contributed to the formation of what might be called the Aegean civilisation. In the world of the Cyclades, the founding of Ermoupoli in 1821-1830 was a minor cosmogony, overturning the equilibrium achieved over centuries and coming hand-in-hand with the polarisation and inequality so characteristic of the modern era. Syros became the centre of the Cyclades, the only true city in the area, the point of reference and pole of attraction for migrants from near and far. Today, although economic functions are beginning to regain their balance, it is still possible to distinguish the physiognomy of this island from that of the others in the group.

some important moments of the prehistoric period –  ancient history – medieval and modern times:

      The most important evidence of a human presence on the island of Syros during the prehistoric period comes from Halandriani and the nearby hill of Kastri, on the north-east side of island. The finds date from 2700-2300 BC and 2300-2200 BC, respectively. Successive phases of escavation at Halandriani, begining in 1862, have yielded some 600 burials with important grave goods. The fortified settlement at Kastri is one of the best preserved Early Cycladic villages to have been discovered  so far. In 1898, the archaelogist Christos Tsoundas was the first excavator of the site, bringing to light the ruins of fortifications, houses and potteries, while some evidence seems to indicate that metal was worked and confirms the relationship between Syros and the Asia Minor coastline during the period in question. Subsequent archaeological investigations in other parts of the island (Sa- Michalis, Talanta, Mallia, Manna) have identified  various other ekistic units …

      The seventh and sixth centuries were a period of considerable prosperity for the Cyclades. Syros, on the other hand, was probably a rather unimportant place. However traces of settlements of this period have been found on the hill of Ayia Pakou (Galissas) and on the hillsides to the west of Ermoupoli, and the sixth c. BC pottery now in Syros Museum comes from these sites. The traces of farming settlements at Vari, Dellagrazia, Finikas, Lotos (Kini Bay) and elsewhere also date from between the sixth and third centuries BC. In the sixth c. when Syros was under the control of Samos, the philosopher Pherekydes was born on the island. He later moved to samos, where he was the teacher of Ptythagoras, and he was believed to have invented the heliotropion, the first sundial. Pherekydes gave his name to two caves on Syros ( in Alithini and Rihopo)…

      When the ancient world passed away, the Cyclades declined into obscurity. The decline and depopulation of the ancient city are probably connected with the barbarian raids of the third century AD and with the subsequent upsurge in piracy, which was the scourge of the Aegean for close on a thousand years. However, traces of settlements in the hinterland demonstrate that the island was not entirely abandoned.

In the Byzantine period, Syros – now Christian- and the other islands of the Cyclades made up the administrative unit called the Theme of the Aegean, governed by a Strategos and later by a Doukas.

 

Historical chronology of Syra (13^th –  20th   century)

 

1204: The Crusaders take Constantinople. Syra along with other islands, is overtaken by the Venetians and annexed under the Duchy of Naxos (or of the Aegean) founded by the Venetian Marco Sanudo. In that period, or slightly earlier, Ano Syros was settled.

1284-1494: During this period, Syros was repeatedly made a gift of to several dukes in the immediate family environment of Marco Sanudo.

The island was ruled by an idiosyncratic feudal regime, underscored by frequent in-fighting among the princelings of the islands and subjected to pirates’ invasions. This was the period when most of the Cycladic settlements took the form of fortified outposts overlooking the seafaring routes and passageways of the region. In the 15^th century, the Aegean Duchy became essentially a protectorate of Venice.

1494: Syra is subsumed under Venetian Administration.

1535: Signing of the first treaty of privileges (capitulations) mutually extended between France and The Sublime Porte (Ottoman government). The Catholics of the Ottoman Empire are placed under French protection, an arrangement which lasted for several centuries.

1537: Occupation of Syra and other islands by the infamous Hayreddin Barbarossa, head of the Ottoman naval fleet.

1579: Ottoman rule is established over the Duchy which is thereupon nullified.

The negotiations between the delegates of Syra and the Cycladic islands with sultan Murat III, concluded with the extending of significant privileges to the islands: reduction of taxes, religious freedom, validation of the right of mediation among Christians, prohibition of the settlement of Jannissary infantry on the islands.

1617: Attack by the Ottoman fleet against Syra between the 15^th and 17^th of October 1617 under Ali Tselepis, the Ottoman fleet commander in the White Sea (the Aegean). Hanging of the Venetian Bishop Andreas Kargas and of his Secretary pre Michalis Yudzinos. In the immolation of the Kastro, the church, library and many residences were destroyed and 200-300 hundred of the inhabitants were taken prisoners. According to historical sources, this was part of a general strategy of intimidation of the Catholics of the Cycladic islands who were maintaining ties with their Venetian counterparts.

1644-1669: First war between the Turks and the Venetians. Crete falls under Ottoman rule after a twenty-five year war with Venice. The port of Syra becomes a safe stopover for ships from all the seafaring cities of the West. The continued Venetian interventions in the administration of the islands result in unfavourable consequences for the island (Ottoman assaults, increase of taxes).

1684-1699: Second war between the Turks and the Venetians. The Turks are defeated. The Venetians occupy the Peloponnese.

1700: In the month of June, swarms of locusts destroy all of the island’s produce. In the same year, the Aegean islands are visited by the French natural historian Pitton de Tournefort. In his book Relation d’ un voyage du Levant, 1718,  t.1, pp. 320-325,  he provides a description of the island during that period.

 

1702: First epidemic of the plague sweeps Syra.

1728: Second plague epidemic; its destructive consequences lasted for many decades, until the end of the 18^th century.

1769-70: The Orlov Revolt. Russo-Turkish wars.

1770-1774: Russian occupation of the island.

1774: Kioutsouk-Kainardzis Treaty. The Russians evacuate the Aegean.

1774-1778: Syra is once again made a gift of to Ali Aga Veroglou.

1779-1803: Syra, along with Andros, are given by Sultan Abdul Hamit I (1774-1789) to his niece, Shah Sultana who turns over the island’s administration to local rule, i.e. to the Assembly of the koinon (community) and their elected Delegates.

1790: Publication of Abbot della Rocca, Traité complet sur les abeilles avec une methode nouvelle de les gouverner, telle qu’elle se pratique à Syra, île de l’Archipel, précédé d’un précis historique et économique de cette île…,  3 tom., Bleuet, Paris 1790, with information about the practice of beehive-tending in which he engaged while on the island. The book’s initial chapters are devoted to the island’s history: History and economy of Syros, The Syriots’ gratitude towards the French, Character and intelligence of the Syriots, A refutation of Paw’s theory about modern Greeks, The language of the Syriots and other Greeks, et al.

1803-1813: Syra, along with Andros, are given over to the Turkish Minister of Public Treasures, Chadzi Ibrahim Resid. Syra’s privileges are preserved and the island merely pays a tax of subservience to the Sultan.

According to the decree sent to the Kadi of Syra, and which included the phrase ‘they are to be free’, the island was autonomous, provided it also paid yearly the sum of 7.000 grosia (gurus). In that manner, the non-intervention of Turkish officials was assured; this arrangement in favor of Syra continued with the new owner of the island, in 1813.

1813-1821: Syra and Andros are made a gift of to Ibrahim Sehit Zarchanas Emin, head of the Turkish Mint.

As the 18^th century passed into the 19^th, a period of financial recovery set in for the whole of the region of the Aegean. At the same time, the specific regime of the islands allowed the growth of self government. Between 1750 and 1820, the island’s population was doubled from 2000 to 4000 inhabitants, approximately. Piracy was curtailed, commercial activity in the port increased. The islanders who raised crops and animals began exporting wine and some of them took up seafaring. The favorable conditions, the semi-autonomy and the protection under the regime of the exchange of privileges (capitulations) , led the Syriots to a neutral position at the beginning of the Greek Revolution of 1821.

1821: Greek Revolution. The much discussed neutrality of the Syriots had unexpected and long-term consequences. This is where the first refugees from Smirna and Kydonies arrived when the persecutions of the Greeks started there, while others also came from Chios prior to its destruction in 1822.

They were put up by the locals of Ano Syros, in their homes and in the churches. In the aftermath of the destruction of Chios in 1822, of Psara in 1824, the occupation of Kasos, and the overpowering of the revolt in Crete, a new wave of refugees ended up in Syra which offered safety firstly because of the particular protection afforded by the West and secondly, because of its central position and its excellent natural harbour.

1822-23: Assaults by Nestor Faziolis with the intention of forcing Syra to join in the revolt.

1823: Syra is included for the first time in the new administrative division of the Aegean islands instituted by the new government of the revolution, so that it comprises a Province along with Mykonos.

1824: Destruction of Psara. Beginning of the settlement of Hermoupolis.

1825: A Turkish decree is issued according to which Syra is no longer considered neutral but hostile.

1826: Hermoupolis receives its name by Loukas Rallis.

1828: Ioannis Kapodistrias is elected as the first governor of Greece. In the first (incomplete) population count, the residents of Hermoupolis reached approximately 13,800 and the residents of Ano Syros were 5,268, with 1,100 refugees among them. One third of the refugee population came from Chios, one fifth from Smyrna and Kydonies, and two hundred foreigners were also counted. With the return to normalcy (1830), the port of Syra became a centre of commercial travel in the Eastern Mediterranean.

1834: The Prefectures of Syra and of  Hermoupolis are formed. The first, under the Royal Decree of October 1^st 1934 (Issue of the Journal of the Government 4/1835) with a population of 4,551 residents, with Syra as its seat. Its residents went by the appellation Syrios ( Σύριος). The insignia on the Prefecture’s seal, a bee encircled with the words “Prefecture of Syros’, was decided with the Royal Decree of October 30^th, 1881.

The Catholic residents of Syros – the so-called ‘Francosyrianoi’ – did allow the refugees in their homeland though, with a few exceptions, they were guarded with regard to the new order that was taking shape in their midst. They did not accept the formation of a unitary prefecture proposed by the residents of Hermoupolis and, in 1834, formed a separate prefecture to which the rest of the island belonged. In this manner, two worlds came into being, separated not only by religious dogma but by significant financial and cultural differences. There was no lack of instances of conflict and confrontations. Yet, with time, the financial relations between the two settlements grew. During an initial period, the Syriοts took up farming at the island’s countryside so they could provide for the city and also export. Subsequently, many became specialised in urban professions (tailors, type-setters) and began to settle in the lower city. Towards the end of the 19^th century, the women of the peasant class started working at the factories of Hermoupolis. At the level, however, of social relations, especially those between the sexes, the prohibitions imposed by the authorities of both churches were, until recently, stifling. Since the end of W.W.II, gradually, these prohibitions were overturned by the new social dynamics of Greek society. Today, the interpermeation of the two cities has been accomplished to a very large degree.

 

 When life returned to normal (1830) the port of syros became the centre of the transit trade of the entire eastern Mediterranean: the merchants of Ermoupoli were quick to switch from selling food and ammunition to dealing in cloth, silk, leather, cotton and hardware. The capital flowing in had made possible the formation of a pewerful local banking and credit system. Until about 1860, Ermoupoli was Greece’s leading trading port. Thanks to the large numbers of refugees, industry, shipping and building developed in parallel with trade. By the end of the war of Independence, the greater part of the Greek merchant fleet was wrecked and the shipyards of Syros played a central role in its reconstruction. Manufactoring turned out to be longer lived than any of the other activities. Craftsmen and handicraft traditions from every corner of the eastern Mediterranean came together here. A visitor from Athens in 1856 decribed “all Ermoupolis” aw “one vast factory”…

The town’s social and cultural life had developed with its economy. There were 10 state and 8 private schools – for boys and girls. The first theatrical performance had taken place in 1826 and after 1840 there were regular visits from italian companies bringing the operatic hits of the day. The social life and intellectual development of the middle classes was in the hands of clubs, cafes chantants, four or five newspapers and a vigorous publishing industry. The construction, in the 1860s of the Club and Theatre buildings was the  crowing achievement in the process of cultural development…

The centre of political life in the nineteenth c. was the Municipality of Ermoupoli was formed in 1834 and soon acquired prestige and a wide range of powers. … The cycle of development was completed with the foundation of the first factories in 1860-1870. Years of decline followed, during the 1880s when steam elipsed sail, other pots grew (notably Piraeus), and there were political upheavals in the general area which deprived Syros of its markets in the Balkans and the East. By the end of the century, the transit trade had effectively vanished, but even so Ermoupoli continued to be an important market for textiles for some dcades more, thanks to its special relationship with Manchester. The building of wooden ships diminished. In generl the traditional manufacturing enterprises were unable to cope with the competition created by European industry… Recovery began in the closing years of the 19th c. An industrial city emerged from among the abandoned commercial warehouses and Ermoupoli became a small scale “cottonopolis” given that most of its facrtories were involved in cotton and textile manufacturing. In its new industrial guise, the economy of Ermoupoli flourished for several decades more. However the physiognomy of the town was changing, little by little…  the dependence of the town on the central authorities became complete after the First World War when the increasingly interventionist approach of the state abolished many of the powers of the Municipality. … the factory -owners of Syros began to move to Athens or Piraeus, managing their factories on Syros from a distance by agents. The restrictions on foreign exchange and trade policy introduced by the Greek goverment- like many others- to cope with the Depression of 1929-1932 simply created more problems for the local industries. In the Thirties, Ermoupoli was on the defensive…During the W.WII Syros in 1941 passed into italian occupation while in 1943 the island passed into german control. In the winter of 1941-1942 around 6.000- 8.000 people starved to death… Syros emerged from the War severely wounted. Most of the manufacturing establishments closed over the 2 next decades… The overall improvement in the Greek economy revived internal tourism, and  it was possible to see some signs of recovery on the island after the 1980s. In the early 90s, however, it was the turn of the Neorio Shipyard to succunb to the wave of deindustrialisation…

 

 

 

(Bibliography: Hermoupolis – Syros, A Historical Tour, texts by Christina Agriadoni, Ageliki Fenerli, Athens, ed. Olkos, 2000 (2^nd revised edition) and Andreas Drakakis, Syros during the Turkish Occupation, tom. I, II, Athens 1948).