View from the castle
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Greece - Ermoupoli, Syros
The elegant port town of Ermoúpoli (Greek: Ερμούπολη), also known with its formal name as Ermoupolis (Ἑρμούπολις), latinized Hermoupolis, is the capital and main city of the island of Syros and the Cyclades prefecture. Named after Hermes (Ἑρμοῦ πόλις), the god of commerce, is the largest city in the Cylades. The "Queen of the Cyclades" is crowned by the twin peaks of Catholic Ano Syros (Άνω Σύρος) to the north (left) and the Orhodox Vrontado to the south (right) and built like an amphiptheatre with neo-classical buildings, old mansions and white houses cascading around the harbour.
Ermoupoli was founded during the Greek Revolution in the 1820s, as an extension to the existing Ano Syros township. It soon became the leading commercial and industrial center of Greece, as well as its main port. The renowned Greek Steamship Company was founded in the city in 1856. Thousands of ships were built in the various Syros shipyards. Eventually Ermoupoli was eclipsed by Piraeus in the late 19th century. In the following decades the city declined. Recently, its economy has greatly improved, based on the service industry.
Rocky Syros (Σύρος), or Syra or Siros, is the commercial, administrative and cultural centre of the Cyclades with area of 86 sq. km., a coastline of 87 km., and a population in excess of 20,000. Archaelogicial digs have revealed finds of the Cycladic civilization dating from 2800 to 2300 BC. The inhabitants converted to Catholicism under the French Capuchins in the Middle Ages. The 19th century saw Syros become a wealthy and powerful port in the eastern Mediterranean. Though Syros does not live off tourism, more visitors arrive each year attracted by its traditional tourism.
Greece - Delphi: Temple of Apollo
The Temple of Delphic Apollo, as it survives, dates only to the fourth century BC, but the foundation is original to an earlier version from the sixth century, which replaces an even older seventh century version. The temple was home to the Oracle of Apollo. The Oracle was wealthy, powerful and, some would argue, very corrupt. It was consulted before all major undertakings from wars to the founding of colonies, providing answers in the form of riddles that allowed for multiple interpretations. The prophesies were channeled through a priestess, known as the Pythia. Some say the priestess chewed laurel leaves (sacred to Apollo) to become god-inspired; naysayers suggest that a fumarole since closed by an earthquake leaked forth intoxicating fumes from the earth's center. This last idea might not be so far-fetched, since the Earth Goddess Gaia was worshipped here, too.
The temple was first built around the 7th c. B.C. by the two legendary architects Trophonios and Agamedes. It was rebuilt after a fire in the 6th c. B.C.., also of the Doric order with 6 columns at the front and 15 columns at the flanks, and named the "Temple of Alcmeonidae" in tribute to the noble Athenian family that oversaw its construction with funds form all over Greece and foreign emperors. This temple was destroyed in 373 B.C. by an earthquake and was rebuilt for the third time in 330 B.C. by Spintharos, Xenodoros, and Agathon, architects from Corinth. The sculptures that adorned its pediment were the creation of Athenian sculptors Praxias and Androsthenes. It was built to similar proportions and size as the Alcmeonidae version of the temple, with a peristasis of 6 and 15 columns along the short and long edges respectively. The temple's foundations survive today along with several Doric columns made of porous stone and limestone which is fairly soft material, and have allowed for the temple's advanced decaying. Nobody knows the arrangement of the adyton, or inner shrine that housed the sacred tripod of Apollo. When the French excavated, they bore down to the bedrock without finding the secret chamber where the priestess was said to become inebriated with the spirit of Apollo.
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