Exploring the Historic Old Market of Ermoupolis, Syros

Locals in Syros discuss with Chiou Avenue as “Manavika” (the greengrocers). Till about twenty years in the past, the road was lined with produce retailers, whose vegetables and fruit added bursts of shade to each nook, interspersed with butcher retailers and normal shops. Fishmongers clustered nearer to the waterfront, whereas the close by alleyways buzzed with commerce – cafes, tavernas, and an array of retailers providing all the pieces from tailoring and shoemaking to fashionable novelties and blacksmithing instruments.

“The scent of wooden from liqueur barrels, of inexperienced soaps and contemporary fruits – it’s all so vivid in my thoughts. The smells are what carry the previous to life; they stick with us,” says tour information Peggy Stergiou, recalling the market’s energetic ambiance.

The market’s roots stretch deep into the early nineteenth century, following the arrival of refugees from Chios. For 2 centuries, it thrived because the business coronary heart of Ermoupolis. Based throughout King Otto’s reign, it’s believed to be Greece’s first market, which numbers the Pallas open-air cinema amongst its landmarks.

“In its early days, makeshift huts had been constructed on stilts above the marshy land, which was later stuffed in to create the road we see as we speak. When Ermoupolis grew into one of many largest business ports within the Mediterranean, the demand for items boomed, and that’s when the market actually flourished,” explains Kostas Prekas, proprietor of the eponymous grocery retailer on Chiou Avenue, a staple since 1992. His store options merchandise from Syros and the remainder of Greece, in addition to a workshop the place he makes native delicacies.

The rising demand spurred a increase in agricultural manufacturing, with rural farms proliferating exterior the town. In 1976, Dutch agronomist Paul Kuipers launched Greece’s first greenhouses to Syros, remodeling the island right into a key provider of contemporary produce, with shipments reaching so far as Athens.

A Cover of Life and Commerce

Canvas awnings as soon as stretched overhead, shading a vibrant market that thrived from Miaouli Sq. to the ocean. Beneath these canopies, a kaleidoscope of sights and sounds unfolded: consumers haggling over contemporary produce, flirtatious exchanges between younger {couples}, and artisans providing their wares in a dizzying array of colours and smells.

Younger apprentices, their arms burdened with baskets, scurried by means of the crowds, whereas donkeys delivered items from the encompassing rural farms. Ice cream distributors wheeled their carts, calling out to youngsters, whereas avenue distributors peddling kokoretsi (grilled offal) added a savory aroma to the air. On this bustling scene, stay chickens clucked in cages and contemporary fish glistened on show tables, all amidst the vitality of on a regular basis commerce. At evening, drifters would sleep beneath the market stalls, including to the market’s unfiltered, lived-in essence.

Some do not forget that the market numbered as many as 17 greengrocers, whereas others recall the legendary grocery retailer “Kypseli” and the produce vendor Dimitris Hatzigiannis, who famously dressed as Charlie Chaplin throughout Carnival, including an additional layer of shade to the market’s energetic ambiance. Then there was the cheerful Spinos, the fry prepare dinner who served up cones of crispy French fries, a easy but unforgettable deal with for market-goers. The tales go on: about Mr. Manolis, who crafted watches in a tiny kiosk, butcher Markos Soubitzis and the hawker, and Tzikas’s café, the place pensioners spent their afternoons enjoying billiards and providing assist to anybody in want of navigating the advanced paperwork of the time.

Reminiscences of One other Time

Mr. Natsios Dakrotsis started his apprenticeship at Spinos’s legendary fry store on the age of ten. “The market was packed, shoulder to shoulder. It was open day-after-day, and in the course of the holidays, we labored late into the evening. Apprentices carried groceries to Syros households in giant baskets – one on their again, one on their chest. However I largely labored within the fry store, working the occasional errand about potatoes. Later, I went to Soubitzis’s butcher store. As I grew older and discovered the commerce, I grew to become a butcher and a slaughterman.”

Barber Antonis Rigoutsos, generally known as “Trichokoptis” (The Haircutter), fondly remembers the limitless banter he shared along with his neighbor, François, the greengrocer.

The 2 males even reprised their previous roles for the reenactment occasion “The Previous Market of Ermoupolis,” organized a number of months in the past by the cultural group Hermoupolis Heritage in collaboration with the Associates of Syros Gastronomy. “As with all our occasions, the aim was for the individuals of Syros themselves to be taught the historical past of their place, and we had been delighted to see such an enormous response. For the older technology, it revived cherished recollections, whereas the youthful ones received a glimpse of what the market was like as soon as. Those that attended not solely loved themselves but additionally gained helpful insights. Our goal is for locals to know their historical past and tradition and to share it in a private, significant manner with guests,” explains the group’s founder, Dimitris Stavrakopoulos.

He acknowledges {that a} single occasion can’t result in sweeping change, however he hopes this revival may encourage different organizations or public our bodies to take related initiatives.

For youthful generations, it was a uncommon alternative to attach with the market’s wealthy previous, thanks partly to pictures from the Ermoupolis Historic Archive. The archive has additionally recorded interviews with veteran retailers, documenting the various transformations of every store over time.

At this time, nevertheless, the market not resembles the colourful hub it as soon as was. Its decline is the results of a number of elements: the rise of supermarkets, diminished agricultural manufacturing on account of water shortages and elevated tourism, and the lifting of parking restrictions alongside the waterfront. The arches that after outlined the house have been lined in plaster, and drywall obscures the stone partitions and excessive ceilings the place items as soon as hung. The as soon as close-knit market has misplaced its identification; strolling alongside it now, one encounters both closed retailers or companies unrelated to its gastronomic heritage.

Only some companies stay because the final vestiges of the previous market. The greengrocers Giannakopoulos and Roussounelos, together with the fish market “Tsalikaki,” are nonetheless going robust after technologys. Babis Dalezios, who opened his butcher store “Salimbaki” in 1997, has additionally contributed to preserving the market’s former character. Hanging Syros louza (cured pork) and fennel sausages on hooks, he brings again a style of the previous, providing a small however significant nod to the previous market. Restoring Chiou Avenue to its former glory, nevertheless, would require initiatives on the a part of the retailers, in addition to incentives and assist from the authorities.

George Giannakopoulos shares this view, arguing that the individuals of Syros nonetheless worth the private care and high quality supplied by a greengrocer over the impersonal service of supermarkets. Through the summer season, he stays open late into the night, as do different retailers, making certain that yachts docking in Syros can discover open retailers for his or her provides. “All of the retailers collectively create a form of division retailer – who wants supermarkets?” he says with a smile.