"The
sovereign of Cyclades".
H
ermoupolis
is the city that stamped with the presence her economic history of
Greece for one almost century.
The city that "from the
zero" incarnated a historical marvel!
Build at the Greek Revolution from Chiotes,
Psarianous and Aivaiotes refugees, afterwards the destruction of Chios.
Her settlers
gave in the city the name of Kerdoou and Scholar Ermis. Hermoupolis means "the
city of Ermis", that was the ancient god of trade and letters.
Fast it developed in important naval and
commercial station.
In few years the
Hermoupolis was changed in first harbour of country with intense artistic and
cultural movement. For a lot of decades existed the centre of trade for all
Greece and beach of M. Asia. Simultaneously existed intense Industrial growth
(Textile, Ship yards and Tannage). Were founded banks, shipping companies, ship
yards, associations, printing-houses, etc. In Hermoupolis was the first iron
Greek boat and functioned the first subsidiary company of National Bank.
All
this economic prosperity led to the creation of powerful urban class
and to the adoption of “European'” way of life. The way of clothing
and the way of amusement of are western type.
The splendid classics
mansions, samples of Romantic Classicism, gave the impression of
European city in the centre of Aegean. European and Greek architects
(Ziller, Sampo, Erlacher, Vlisidis, Eleytheriadis, etc.) and
craftsmen and painters created this city that her architecture is
considered monumental.
Town hall,
Club "Greece",
temple of Saint Nikolaos,
theatre Apollo and the mansions in
district Steamboats
"Vaporia", are certain from the
samples of this architecture.
However from the end of 19th
century the “ Sovereign of Cyclades ” begins to be
undermined. Her decline began with the opening of Isthmus of
Korinthos with result the appointment of other commercial centers,
as the harbor of Piraeus.
Although the city continues
constituting one from the more important administrative and commercial centers
of southern Aegean. Today in Hermoupolis reside the Region of Southern Aegean
and the Prefecture Cyclades.
Neo classics
buildings,
squares,
streets testify
the period of acne but the intellectual and cultural movement continue also
today the course that began the previous century.
