After 1830, when Ermoupoli had taken shape, new hamlets started being created just outside its limits, which functioned as summer holiday homes for wealthy Ermoupolites. Perhaps the most representative of them are Episkopio, Chrousa, and Poseidonia. In these villages, in between the homes of present-day residents, wonderful country villas emerge; old mansions of exceptional architecture, surrounded by green, still retaining their former glory.

The oldest of these is Episkopio or Piskopio, just 4.5 km from Ermoupoli. Just outside the village, an old church, Panagia Piskopiana or Protothroni, is, according to tradition, the first seat of Syros, and the remains of the Catholic bishop’s residence from which the settlement took its name are preserved to this day. Beautiful neoclassical buildings, that belonged the wealthy Syros vacationers from another era, and a Club are preserved in Episkopio. Particularly interesting is the abandoned ‘Kokkinospito’, an old mansion which was the inspiration behind Karagatsis’ novel ‘The Great Chimera’.

Later, Chrousa was created in the southern part of the island, 8.5 km from Ermoupoli. In the centre of the hamlet, the Orthodox Church of the Assumption of the Theotokos was erected in 1854 by the citizens of Ermoupoli who moved here in the years of the cholera epidemic, in order to protect themselves from the deadly disease that plagued crowded urban centres at the time.

A more recent hamlet is stately Poseidonia (Delagratsia), built on the southwestern tip of the island with a coastal front facing the bay of Finikas. It is named after the ancient Temple of Poseidon located in the broader area However, it is also known as Delagratsia because of the small Catholic Church of our Lady of Grace (Madona della Grazia), which is built in the northern part of the village. Excellent examples of a upper class summer residences are Villa Valmas with its imposing tower, Villa Psiachi, Koulouris Tower, etc. Also characteristic is Villa Tsiropina, which used to house Poseidonia Town Hall. It is currently a Cultural space that holds a multitude of theatre, music, and art events, and also houses the Centre for Environmental Education (KEPEA). Just outside Poseidonia is the Catholic Church of Panagia Faneromeni, which was built in 1890, next to an older 17th century church. Today, the church is a pilgrimage for Christians from all over Syros and the rest of Greece.