Saint George's Cathedral, Roman Catholic Cathedral in Ano Syros, Greece

Saint George's Cathedral is a three-aisled basilica with marble columns and a vaulted ceiling, crowned by a large dome and a triple bell tower. Statues of saints by 18th-century Italian sculptors stand at the entrance, and the floor is laid in black-and-white tiles in a chessboard pattern. Unlike Orthodox churches, it has pews and an organ above the entrance.

The first church was built on the hilltop around 1200. It was destroyed by the Turks in 1617 and rebuilt; in 1652 it became the cathedral of the Diocese of Syros and Milos. The last reconstruction, in 1834, gave it its present form.

The cathedral has been the seat of the Bishop of Syros and Milos since 1652, and the Catholic community of Ano Syros still gathers here. Inside are the icon of Saint George and the icon of the Mother of God 'Panagias tis Elpidas' (Madonna of Hope), both of artistic and cultural value. A portrait of Bishop Ioannis Andreas Kargas, hanged by the Turks, hangs in the church.

The cathedral stands at the top of Ano Syros, reached on foot through the town's stepped lanes, with the climb itself passing the older baptistery of 1705 and the bell tower. The complex also holds the bishop's palace and the historical archive, so allow time to walk around the summit rather than only the nave.

The oldest surviving part of the complex is not the church itself but the baptistery, dated 1705, with bare stone walls. The cathedral also keeps a portrait of Bishop Ioannis Andreas Kargas, hanged by the Turks, and statues of saints at the entrance carved by 18th-century Italian sculptors.