Sýros

Inhabitants of Sýros (locally known as Sýra) affectionately call their island home ‘Our Rock’ and much of it is as dry and barren a piece of real estate as you can find. But at the beginning of the Greek War of Independence in 1821 it was blessed with three important qualities: a large natural harbour, the protection of the King of France, and a hardworking population who love the arts.

The result is Sýros’s capital, Ermoúpolis, once the premier port in Greece, and today the largest city and capital of the Cyclades. Don’t come here looking for Cycladic sugar-cubism: Ermoúpolis, the ‘Lady of the Aegean’ is one of the best-preserved 19th-century Neoclassical town in the whole of Greece.

A sophisticated island, the administrative hub of the Cyclades, with 20,000 permanent residents, nearly half and half Orthodox and Catholic, Sýros can afford to snap its fingers at tourism, but it still has plenty offer: not only beaches, but a full calendar of festivals, including a summer Film Festival, a Guitar Festival in July, the International Festival of the Aegean, also in July, featuring Classical music and opera, and an International Rebétiko Festival in late August-early September in honour of the famous composer from the island, Márkos Vamvakáris.