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Ermoupoli and the Anastasi church rising above the Cycladic rooftops of Syros

Our Story

The Syros of Giannis

Where nobility meets the story of authentic hospitality

“This house has a story. If you look after it and care for it as it deserves, it will have another future too. It will become an embrace that makes the world love Syros the way we live it…”
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Chapter I

Our Story & Our Vision

Syra di Giovanni is not simply a business venture. It is a debt of love, a living bridge between the glorious past of Syros and its future.

The story of this mansion is the story of our own family. It belonged to my father-in-law, kyr Giannis — or, as the whole island knew him and lovingly called him, “Giannakis”.

Giannakis was a most gentle and deeply giving man, half Catholic, with strong family ties, who always helped people — often asking nothing in return.

As one of the most important civil engineers of Syros, he left his mark on historic buildings and churches across the whole island, through works he designed, built or restored.

The neoclassical facade of the Syra di Giovanni mansion in Ermoupoli
Miaouli Square, the central square of Ermoupoli, beside the mansion

Chapter II

From Historic Mansion to a Place of Hospitality

This mansion, once his mother's dowry house, stands in the heart of the island, on the central square.

Giannakis himself, with his visionary spirit, carried out the first renovation many years ago. Seeing that there were few houses available at the time, and wanting to help those who came temporarily to the island — teachers, servicemen, workers of the Neorion shipyard, students — he divided the house into three, so that it could meet their needs.

Over the years its rooms hosted tutoring schools, teachers and working people. Giannakis always saw a little further than his own era.

He always told us that a great opportunity was hidden here. That one day a place to stay could be born here, one that would offer nobility and comfort beyond the ordinary, and would make the people who visited it love the island.

Neoclassical salon with vaulted ceiling inside the restored mansion

When the house passed into our hands, we decided to make his vision a reality and, at the same time, to honour his memory.

We put in endless love and care to create a place that felt familiar and warm, a place that would not merely resemble accommodation, but a home.

And so Syra di Giovanni was born.

The “Syros” of Giannis.

Chapter III

The Experience of Staying

We wanted to offer our guests an experience of staying where nobility and comfort meet authentic hospitality.

The mansion is divided into elegant, self-contained suites, which can nevertheless be joined together, offering flexibility for groups and families.

Our purpose is for our guest to live Syros from morning until night, right in the heart of the island, and to love it with the same passion and the same care that Giannakis passed on to us.

Marble bathroom detail in one of the restored suites
The Anastasi church above the Ermoupoli cityscape
“Because, in the end, the Syros they will come to know here is the Syros of his own heart.”

Your Stay

Now it is your turn to know the Syros of Giannis.

Stay in the heart of Syros and discover a mansion created not simply to host you, but to make you love the island.
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