Plateia Miaouli is the beating heart of Ermoupoli and one of the most elegant public squares in the Greek islands. Ringed with palm trees and flanked by marble-paved cafes, the square draws a mixed crowd of islanders and visitors every evening for the ritual of the volta — the slow, sociable promenade that Greeks have perfected over centuries.
The neoclassical town hall closes one end of the square, its imposing facade giving a sense of how seriously the merchants of 19th-century Syros took civic architecture. They were building a capital city, and they wanted it to look like one. Sit at one of the kafeneions under the palms with a frappe and watch the scene — children chasing pigeons, old men playing backgammon, the ferries moving silently across the harbour below.