Thurs Oct 3, 2024
Hi Folks! Today we are docked in the beautiful Greek island of Syros. Syros is in the Cyclades (same island chain as Santorini and Mykonos) in the Aegean Sea. It is 78 nautical miles south-east of Athens and has a population of 22,000, the largest of the Cyclades. The history of the settlement on Syros goes back at least 5,000 years, to the Early Bronze Age. Heck that’s even older than me!
We were specifically docked in the capital city of Ermoupoli also called Archontisa (aristocratic lady). There are many elegant Venetian buildings and neoclassical mansions here. The hill above us is called Ano Syros (the Catholic town). The island is pretty much half Roman Catholic and half Greek Orthodox.
Our tour today went all over the island. We first stopped at the hilltop village of Ano Syros and walked thru the narrow lanes and alleyways. The church of St George sits on the hill but we did not get to visit inside. We did get to visit the Church of St John the Baptist. Very small inside but pretty.
We then toured various villages around the island. This land is very dry since they have not had any rain since April! We stopped at a little shop to taste something called Turkish delight. Pretty tasty!
Our last stop was to the Church of the Assumption which houses the famous painting by El Greco called “The Dormition of Virgin Mary”. There’s an interesting story behind the painting. In 1562, the priest gives 15 year old El Greco orders to make an icon. He paints the beautiful icon for the priest. Soon after, the Ottomans come and kill a majority of the people and the priest hides the icon in the basement.
In 1963 they find the icon and realize it’s this beautiful painting by El Greco who is now dead. The painting becomes very famous and has toured the world and been displayed in the Louvre in Paris as well as in Spain and the US. The theme of this painting is from the New Testament. The Virgin Mary is the central focal figure, lying dormant, sleeping peacefully, until her soul and body are reunited and taken to Heaven. A true masterpiece! I included a picture of it.
After the tour, we got cleaned up and went to the speaker series with today’s topic being “The Ottoman Empire and the making of Modern Turkey”. It all started when a man named Osman, also known as Ottman, dreams of a powerful civilization. That empire becomes the Ottoman Empire and lasted from 1289 to 1923. In 1453 the Ottomans toppled Constantinople and command the trade routes between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. This forces Spain to go around Africa to get to the far east and also caused Portugal to send Columbus to sail west to find a route to the far east. So in essence the Ottomans were the reason Columbus discovered America!
As the Ottoman Empire grew,
only Charles the 5th and the Hapsburg empire were larger than them. Fast forward to 1915 when Churchill decides to attack the Ottoman Empire in the Dardanelles (also known as the strait of Gallipoli) but was defeated. This was the last victory for the Ottomans. The last Sultan is overthrown in 1923 and the country of Turkey is born.
One of the interesting things we learned was that tulips came from Turkey and were sent to Holland where that industry blossomed (pun intended!). Of course we also got Turkish coffee from there as well as Harems (but I ain’t going there!!).
That’s all for now. I’ll post an update after dinner. Happy Thursday to all!
The Wandering Italian 