Symi: Ancient & Modern

Symi - day 4

The island is beautiful for many reasons but one of the biggest is it's buildings. To keep it that way there is a very strong set of building regulations, the crux of which is that you can only restore/rebuild ruins that already exist and they must be in the original neo-classical design and colours. There is a little flexibility but not much, the result is one of the most complete and undisturbed versions of that building genre anywhere. There is not one single building that looks out of place. The good news is there are still pleanty of ruins to work on but you might be surprsied how much they cost. This shot probably illustrates this better than I can explain.

Originally more important than Rhodes the population was once 10-20 times what it is today. The surrender of the Dodecanese by the Germans was even signed here after WWII. Today it is for day trippers and a few hundred tourists that can make the journey for a stay. Most of whom keep comming back. It is worth it, but don't tell anyone I told you. It's a secret.