Delos and Syros

15^thAugust 2018

The wind is back with vengeance and it is nice to be tied up in port at Mykonos. Unfortunately we now have 4 cruise ships here, so expect a busy day today. Up till now we have been very spoilt, with most of the ports visited not being overcrowded by the influx from large cruise ships.

Todays program is to visit the island of Delos, which can be reached by ferry from Mykonos. We caught the 8.45am Seabus from the new port to the old port, as we did last night, and then joined a ferry to Delos. There are a number of cruise ship tour groups with the same idea, so lets hope it is not too overcrowded.

The Delos Ferry

Arrival at Delos 

Delos is a UNESCO Heritage site and was the site of a thriving town of around 30,000 people until the occupants abandoned the town in 6 AD. The story we were told was that they were under constant attacks by pirates and sought safer ground, as Delos was very easy to attack and difficult to defend.

An Introduction to Delos from our Guide

Occupation of the island can be traced back to the Bronze Age, but the remains of the village that archaeologists have exposed were established around 2300 years ago. It is remarkably well preserved and you can walk the streets of the village, just as they were in that era. It is also famous in mythology, as it is the birthplace of the Greek Gods, Apollo and Artemis.

The are well defined streets

It was a merchant city, and the most important trading centre in the Aegean Sea, with streets lined with shops and storerooms and luxurious mansions. To date only 10% of the city has been excavated, but just in what has been exposed, there is evidence of a wealthy society, with sewerage, cisterns to store fresh water underground, and over 200 wells accessing an aquifer under the island.

Building walls still hold fragments of frescoes

One of 200 wells from which you can still draw fresh water

Metal Keys made of lead and bronze were used to tie marble slabs together

A marble table thought to have been used for cleaning fish

The inside courtyard of a private mansion

An Ancient Wine press 

The Amphitheatre

Part of the Cistern System

Towards the conclusion of our tour we came to the section of the island devoted to dieties and ceremonial things. The narrow streets gave way to a wide avenue with marble columns either side leading to the temple of Apollo, now pretty much a ruin. Nearby is what used to be a lake, where legend has it Apollo and Artemis were born. Guarding the lake is a row of stone lions donated by the island of Naxos.

The Narrow Streets give way to a wide avenue to the Temple of Apollo

The remains of the Temple of Apollo

Lions Guarding the Lake where Artemis and Apollo were born

We spent around 2 hours guided around the ruins by an excellent local guide who did his best to bring the city to life for us. At the conclusion of the tour is a visit to the on site museum, where most of the artifacts collected during the excavation are on display.

Back on boat by 1pm, lunch today is included and is another great buffet lunch on board with more excellent Greek food. The wind on the way back from Delos was strong, with waves breaking over the bow of the ferry, but it was a short 30 minute trip, so no one was really adversely affected.

Departure for Syros is 2.30pm, but there is a bit of traffic in the harbour, so we didn’t get away until 2.45pm. It is still blowing hard with plenty of sea spray so once we were under way, most people sought the shelter of the aft deck or inside.

The Seas are getting rough

Arrival in Syros was at 5pm, about 30 minutes earlier than planned. It is another stunning place and quite protected from the wind. There are also no cruise ships, as this island is off the major tourist radar. The port is at Hermoupolis, the Capital of Syros and Syros is the Capital of the Cyclades Group of Islands. It is not that touristy and has a major shipyard, which is a significant contributor to the local economy.

Approaching Syros

At our berth

Our guided walking tour starts at 5.45pm, and begins with a walk along the waterfront, where a few sailing yachts are moored stern in to the village. One of them is a Hanse 400 about the same vintage as ours. A little further along are the monstrous motor boats.

Hanse on the left

We turn into the village and walk up a slight incline through the narrow streets to our first stop, which is the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (which is ironically located next to the casino). The celebrations for the Assumption of the Holy Mother continue here and a sermon is in progress, but we are welcome to walk through. 

The highlight of the visit is an original El Greco painting that is mounted in full view, behind a bit of glass with seemingly no security, just outside the entrance to the Church.

Next stop was the main square with the imposing town hall looking over it. As Syros is the Capital of the Cyclades, the Town Hall is the Administration Centre for all of the islands in the group and houses the courthouse for all islands.

Town Hall

The Main Square

The Cafe outside the courtrooms inside the town hall

A view of the square from the steps of the Town Hall

Wandering to our next stop

Further along through the streets, we came to the Opera House. Apparently this was the first opera house in Greece and was designed by an Italian architect in the early 19^thCentury. The whole town  was built in that era. The Opera house is compact, and gets a lot of use, with entrance fees kept at a modest cost to ensure it is accessible to all levels of society. The expensive seats (around 20 euro) are on the ground level with the individual boxes being about 5 euro cheaper.

The expensive seats

Inside the Opera House (from the top boxes)

Our guide waxing lyrical

More explorations of the winding streets eventually takes us to the Church of St Nicholas, patron of all seafarers. It is an impressive church with a large blue dome.

Church of St Nicholas

Next we go to a part of Hermoupolis that is a popular swimming spot for locals, Asteria Beach. It is now 7.45pm and there are lots of people in the water bin a beautiful setting.

Finally we wind our way back down into the main town, where we are treated to some Greek food as part of the tour. Described as Mezze, a few snacks as a starter, we found it to be a full meal, and it is around 8.30pm so we were hungry. We headed back into the streets at 9.30pm, walked around, bought some Turkish Delight (or is it Greek Delight according to the locals) the tour now complete, found a bar on the waterfront for a nightcap.

Our tour group enjoying Mezze

The whole street was full of restaurants

We were back on board just after 10.30pm, had a cup of coffee and all agreed this has been probably one of the best days of the cruise. We managed to get back before the 5am all aboard curfew.

Galileo at her berth in Syros