Syros Attractions

Its central situation makes it the principal center of administration, commerce and fisheries in the Cyclades and a focal point of the shipping routes in the central Aegean. Agriculture provides the major contribution to the island's economy, supplemented in recent years by a rapidly developing tourist trade.From the time of the fourth Crusade, at the beginning of the 13th century, until 1568 Syros belonged to the Venetian duchy of Náxos, and since then it has had a substantial Roman Catholic minority, which during the Turkish period was under the protection of France. During the war of Greek independence Syros remained neutral, and those who escaped the massacres of Chios and Psará were able to find refuge here. Close to the town of Áno Syros, which was founded in the 13th century and has remained predominantly Catholic, these new settlers established the town of Ermoúpolis (City of Hermes) by the harbor, and during the 19th century this developed into the largest Greek port, before being overtaken by Piraeus.