The Prince (centre) received by Mayor Alexandros Athanasiou (left) and Ms Kalliopi Xenopoulou (right) at the City Hall of Ermoupoli.
As the city of Ermoupoli celebrates the bicentenary of its naming, Constantine II was formally received by the Mayor of Syros-Ermoupoli, Mr Alexandros Athanasiou, at the City Hall.
The official visit marks the profound historical ties between the House of Zaccaria de Damalà and the "first city" of the modern Greek state. The meeting honoured the legacy of his ancestor, Mayor Ambrosios Damalas (1808–1869). A survivor of the Chios Massacre, Ambrosios not only rebuilt his family’s fortunes but was appointed Mayor by King Otto in 1853, subsequently leading Ermoupoli through its golden age of civic expansion and steadfastly protecting its citizens during the cholera epidemic of 1854 and the anti-royalist uprisings of 1862.
During the cordial reception, discussions focused on the Prince's dedication to reconnecting the dynasty with the island. The Prince outlined the House’s intention to contribute actively to the local community through renewed philanthropic and cultural initiatives in the years to come, reviving the deep patronal relationship his ancestors established over a century ago.
Following the meeting, the Prince toured the historic City Hall and expressed his admiration for the modern vitality of Ermoupoli, reaffirming his desire to return frequently as the House enters this new era of civic engagement.
The original municipal communiqué is available for download below. To ensure its precise historical nuances are accessible to an international audience, the Chancery has also provided an official English translation.
Download Original Greek Press Release (PDF)Meeting of the Mayor of Syros-Ermoupoli with Mr Constantine-Paul Damalas
As Ermoupoli celebrates the 200th anniversary of its naming in 2026, our Municipality and the Mayor of Syros-Ermoupoli, Mr Alexandros Athanasiou, welcomed today, Friday, 17 April 2026, at the City Hall, the return of a family whose history is inextricably linked with the golden age of our city.
Mr Constantine-Paul Damalas, head of the House of Zaccaria-Damalas, visited Syros and Mayor Athanasiou, accompanied by Ms Kalliopi Xenopoulou, with the desire to forge anew his family's historical bond with our land. To understand the modern resilience of this family, one must look to his ancestor, Ambrosios Damalas (1808–1869)—a man who did not merely inherit the influence he later wielded as mayor of the most vital city in Greece; he had to forge its survival through unimaginable tragedies.
Born in Chios, the son of the prokritos (governor) Ioannis Zannis Damalas, Ambrosios was the eldest heir of an ancient sovereign lineage, being a direct descendant of the Genoese dynasty of the Zaccaria de Damalà, the last Latin Princes of Achaea. However, his early years were violently shattered. Surviving the Chios Massacre in 1822, the execution of his father, and captivity alongside his mother, Catherine Petrokokkinou, and his sister, he orchestrated a daring escape on a Russian ship. With the intervention of his relatives from the Mavrokordatos family, he was transferred to the burgeoning city of Ermoupoli.
Ambrosios enlisted his acute perception to establish a formidable commercial presence. In 1845, adhering to the strict tradition of Chian noble endogamy, he married Kalliopi Ralli, daughter of Loukas Rallis, the man who gave Ermoupoli its name. His absolute dynastic prestige was confirmed by blood when, in 1846 and 1850, King Otto and Queen Amalia deliberately bypassed the sitting authorities to be hosted privately at his neoclassical mansion at the corner of Apollonos and Chariton streets—a profound act recognising the ancient standing of the family.
Appointed Mayor of Ermoupoli by the King in 1853, Ambrosios assumed a position of true viceregal trust. Under his leadership, the country's "first city" experienced its golden age. He personally pioneered the founding of the Hellenic Steam Navigation Company, expanded the aristocratic Vaporia district, constructed the vital water reservoir at Nisaki, and donated his own private property for the expansion of Othonos Square (now Miaouli Square). In 1855, in a moving reference to his own youth as an orphaned captive, he founded the Municipal Boys' Orphanage.
His true magnitude as a patrician leader was proven during two severe civic crises. When the cholera epidemic of 1854 struck and the city's elite fled, Ambrosios remained, personally gathering resources to create wheat reserves, establishing a civic militia, and financing free medical care. Years later, the anti-Othonian uprising of 1862 threatened to plunge Ermoupoli into a violent class war. Ambrosios played a dangerous double game to protect his people from social anarchy and looting. He feigned alignment with the armed factions to impose strict order on the crowd, ensuring that public works, such as the Apollo Theatre, continued unimpeded.
His manoeuvres secured a bloodless resolution when the King's warship arrived. However, the government misunderstood his pragmatic containment of the mutineers, and King Otto dismissed him from his duties. Immediately re-elected by the citizens in a show of absolute loyalty, Ambrosios chose to resign diplomatically rather than force a political conflict.
Relocating to Marseille, France, he continued to secretly fund national causes, including the Great Cretan Revolution. In 1869, the citizens of Ermoupoli, recognising that they owed him the survival and greatness of their city, awarded him a diamond-encrusted gold medal accompanied by a resolution with 700 signatures, which is exhibited today in the City Council chamber at the Ermoupoli City Hall. He died that same year, and his body was returned to Syros to be interred in the cemetery of Saint George.
When the newly crowned King George I sailed into Ermoupoli, two years after Ambrosios had departed, he gazed upon the shipyards and neoclassical squares, exclaiming: "The Liverpool of Greece!" The monarch was looking at the physical and cultural legacy that Ambrosios had left behind.
The central theme of the scheduled meeting was the renewed presence of the Damalas family in Syros, in the context of cooperation with the Municipality of Syros-Ermoupoli, and indeed in such a symbolic year, that of the anniversary celebrations for the completion of 200 years since the naming of Ermoupoli. The discussion focused on Mr Constantine-Paul Damalas's promising plans for the re-strengthening of the House of Zaccaria-Damalas's ties with our island, as well as his willingness to contribute, through philanthropic actions and programmes, to the local community in a multi-level manner.
The discussion concluded in a very cordial atmosphere with Mr Damalas expressing his admiration for modern Ermoupoli and his enthusiasm for the start of a new era in which his House of Zaccaria-Damalas will once again be able to actively contribute to its shaping. After the meeting, Mr Constantine-Paul Damalas was given a tour of the City Hall and expressed his desire to return soon to Ermoupoli.
Greek Press Coverage
The municipal communiqué was prominently featured across the authoritative print and digital media of the Cyclades: