Shortly after 1824 Syros acquires its first organized cemetery, also known as the Mausoleum of Agios Georgios. With the expansion of Ermoupolis the cemetery is suddenly found at the center of the district of the refugees from Psara and is forcefully moved to its current location. The constructions and additions followed one another with the room for the dead before burrial that was built in 1837, the Church of St. George in 1839 and the Hieratic School in 1858 which was later converted into a charnel house. The old mausoleum suffered great damage and in its place the new cemetery was built, surviving to this day in the heart of Neapoli in Syros.
This is a cemetery reflecting the history and culture of the magnificent island of Syros in its exquisite mausoleums and beautifully decorated tombstones. The most imposing tombs belong to important personalities of the island like Mavrokordatos, Benakis, Antoniadis and Rodokanakis.
The inscriptions on the monuments unveil characteristics from the lives and homeland of the desists while the decoration details indicates the power, prestige and origin.The cemetery of St George is divided into 7 sections while the 56 mausoleums congregate in a separate area on the northeast side.
The incredible monuments are signed by important Greek as well as Italian artists & sculptors such as Fytalis, Vitalis, Spanos and A. Canessa. Among other monuments many marble tombs, shrines, sculpted angel figures, crosses, Ionic and Doric monuments, chapels, ciboria with 4 Doric or Ionic columns, tombstones, headstones and tomb epigrams primarily inspired by folk songs and dirges stand out.
