Ano Syros
Photo: Greece Field Guide
The Verdict
A Catholic, Venetian-founded village on a hill above the port — steep, lived-in, and the opposite of a Cycladic postcard, in a good way.
Why go
Ano Syros was founded by Venetians and stayed Catholic when the rest of the Cyclades turned Orthodox, which gives it a cathedral on the summit, a different calendar and a different atmosphere. The lanes are narrow, steep and stepped, the houses small and packed together, and from the top the whole harbour lies below. It is a twenty-minute walk up from town, and Markos Vamvakaris, the father of rebetiko, was born here.
Understand the place
The hilltop village above Ermoupoli, founded by Venetians in the thirteenth century and Catholic ever since, with stepped lanes and a cathedral at the summit.
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