The Orphanage

The Near East Relief Orphanage of Syros was one of the most important institutions created in Greece. The orphanage was created as part of the response to the devastating humanitarian crisis following the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
The buildings that housed the NER orphanage of Syros have been repurposed into a military base since the 1930s and a few years ago as part of the research taking place, we uncovered underneath the wooden floor boards a plethora of finds including toys, letters, documents, clothes, tools and other personal items that were “trapped” for decades.
In the winter of 2014, a little over 90 years after the creation of these spectacular buildings, due to a series of fortunate events, a serendipitous discovery that sparked the creation of the current research project.
On the occasion of the centennial of the creation of the largest orphanage of the Eastern Mediterranean a publication and the exhibition entitled “1923-2023 - The Syros Near East Relief Orphanage” were presented
The NEROS team of archaeologists, historians, architects and videographers are part of a volunteer-based project that has studied the archival and physical evidence from the Near East Relief Orphanage of Syros.