Ano Syros

Apano Chora  or Ano Syros is the island’s oldest settlement.

All its buildings are scaled to the natural incline of the ground and are interconnected by a varied network of terraced streets, plateaux and rooftops. “It exemplifies the Cycladic structural imprint at its most integrated because each house has the geometric autonomy of Cycladic cubism, though the impression conveyed is that the entire settlement is a single structure, one single house, as it were. This is a single  structure which  begins a little further up from Pafsilipos and extends to the top of Saint George, the Catholics’ cathedral.”

From the urban point of view, Ano Syros has all the characteristics of the medieval settlements which developed in and around fortresses and castles. From the Kamara or Arch ( one of the main points of access to Ano Syros) there is a good view of the way in which the outermost houses served as fortifications by huddling close together. It was eithin this protected area that settlers from various parts of the West made their homes during the period of latin rule (1286-1494), together with the descendants of such of the earlier inhabitants of the island as had survived. The first figures for the population of Ano Syros date back to the fifteenth century and indicate that the town was tiny: there were 200 inhabitants in 1470, and 400 in 1494. By 1635-1638, though, there were 2.000 – 3.000 Catholics in the town, and about 100 Orthodox.

The construction of houses must have started at the top of the hill and worked downwards, given that the best defensive position is right on the summit, where the church of St. George now stands. The houses were built close together in circles down stepped radial streets. The only street of somewhat greater width forms the piazza, where thw town Hall, the shops and the cultural and recreational facilities are now located.  

Museums and historical sites which are open to the visitors:

Museums

1) Exhibition of traditional occupations. This is a collection of domestic utensils and tools used by fishermen, cobblers, barbers, carpenters and other artisans. Here there is also an exhibition of historical documents from the Municipal archives.

2) The Markos Vamvakaris Museum. This old house was renovated in 1995. The collection contains the personal effects of markos Vamvakaris, the great composer of rembetika songs, who was born and brought up on Syros, and other items connected with his life.

3) The Centre of Historical Studies of the Catholic Bishopric of Syros (K.I.M.K.E.S.) was founded in October 1986 by Bishop Frangiskos Papamanolis. Its aim is the collection, study, use and promotion of the historical sources pertaining to the spiritual  heritage of Syros and the Cycladic islands.The archival material preserved under special conditions at the Centre includes: the Archive of the Catholic Bishoprics of Syros and Thira (Santorini) as well as parts of the Archive of the Community and Prefecture of Ano Syros during both the Ottoman Occupation and the independence of the Greek nation (16^th –19^th century).

 

It includes historical material concerning the island both before and after the founding of Hermoupolis.These important documents are classified  under the following thematic categories: Demographics – these record the population of Syra, with chapters on the island’s internal administration; Historic, Communal decisions – the election of the Overseer (Epitropos), of the preeminent citizens in the community (proestoi) and, from the 18^th century onwards, of the Secretary/notary (Kadzilieris) and the island’s Delegate to Constantinople  (Kapoukehayas) all took place at the yearly Communal Assemblies; Nuptial Contracts, Wills, Sales and Purchases, Legal Contracts and Agreements concerning financial transactions whether personal or collective. Another category of documents is comprised by Decisions of the Secretariat or the Chancellery of the Bishopric, Correspondence by members of the clergy (with ecclesiastical, state, municipal, public, consular and other institutions), Records of christenings, marriages, deaths et al..

This collection of documents has been copied on microfilm by the Educational Institute of the National Bank of Greece and they are at the disposal of researchers and visitors who are able to view them on a special screen. An exhaustive catalog has also been published by professor Ag. Tselikas in the Bulletin of the Historic and Paleographic Archive, 4 (1984-1987). 

The first systematic itemizing of the Library of the Centre of Historical Studies was started on 26 August 1990 and was completed in 1993. According to the last cataloging, it numbers almost five thousand titles. Of these 24% are in Greek with  several rare publications of the Greek Diaspora from Venice, Trieste, Vienna, Paris, Leipzig. The greatest percentage of books are in Latin (30%) followed by books in Italian (25%) and in French (14%). A significant 3,5% is taken up by German editions (end of the 19^th - beginning of the 20^th century) which originate from the collection of I. Dalezios. Finally, there are 80 books in Latin-Greek phonetic transcription (religious editions in the spoken Greek of that period printed in Latin characters) and several texts of religious content  published locally in 19^th century Hermoupolis. The literature contributed by monastic orders, priests and laymen has gradually increased the number of books. Fields such as Catechism, the Holy Scriptures, Ascetics, Dogma and Moral Theology, Patrology, Liturgy, Ecclesiastical History, History of Syros, Politics, Literature, Geography, Philosophy, Rhetoric, Grammar, Lexicons and Encyclopaedias, were expanded while categories were also created under new subjects. 

 

                                                                                         

 Of particulars interest are the showcases contaiing the tools used for making hosts, the three wooden semandra (beaten with a hammer and corresponding to bells) carried in procession through the tawn on Good Friday, and the historical documents relating to Syros.

 

Churches

- St Nicolas and the Holy Trinity are the two Orthodox Churches in Ano Syros. Built on the 17th century.

- Our Lady of Mt Carmel. The date 1640 over the door, probably that of the construction of the church. In 1745, the Catholic Bishopric made this church over the newly-founded jesuit friary.

- Church of the Archangel Michael. Very old building with a superb view over the ravine. There isa a succesion of steadia (the covered passages) on the road to the church.

 

                                                                                                                  

- Kioura tis Plakas. Probably built on 17th c.

- Kioura tou Karlou. A simple little chapel, built in 1686 ( according to the inscription)

- Church of St John. Built in 1635, this church belongs to the Capuchin Monastery. Beneath the church is a crypt where burials took place;in 1896, the bones from 65 interments dating back to ancient times were assembled there (look at the inscription in the church)

- Church of Saint George, Catholics Cathedral. 

The ecclesiastical compound of the Catholic Bishopric is made up of the portico (pronaos),the holy church of Saint George, the christening chamber, the sacristy (sagrestia) the bellfry, the congregation hall, the building of the Historical Archives (formerly the Hieratic School), the Bishop’s quarters (Bishopric), several storehouses and a network of courtyards and staircases connecting these building structures with the environment, visually and ergonomically. The compound is situated on top of the rock formation on which the settlement of Ano Syra has developed. Architecturally, the main structure of Saint George is a three-nave basilica with a vault over the central nave and arched roofing over the side naves. This typology allows for a difference in height between the central and the adjacent naves. Thus, the highest point from the exterior, reaches to 9,55 meters, while at the sides, the exterior height reaches 6.75 meters. The external dimensions, including the portico, are 26m in length and 14.6m in width. The Saint George church was appended along the northern transverse side of a pre-existent domed temple dating from 1703, which today has been fully incorporated into the main church, functioning as the christening chamber. Along the western side, along with a balcony overlooking the courtyard, a portico has been added, on the roof of which resides the church organ, the ‘tribuna’. By the south side, near the sanctum, rises the bellfry with the distinctive marble crown. Along the eastern side, are situated the much more recent buildings of the sacristy, the congregation hall and the Historical Archives, with their courtyards.

At a lower level than the church, on its south side, is the Bishopric. It is linked with the church of Saint George through stairways, terraces and courtyards. The rock on top of which this distinctive compound is nestled, is marble slate and it provides the founding surface of the compound. 

(in Proposal for the restoration and maintenance of the ecclesiastical compound of Saint George of Ano Syros, published in 2006 as an initiative of the Catholic Bishopric of Syros under the supervision of Prof. of National Technical University of Athens Joseph Stefanou)

 

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