Naxos Places to visit Introduction  
 

Naxos is a fertile land with hardworking people, taking advantage to the maximum of the natural abilities of the island, agriculture, cattle-breeding and fishing.

Citron, potatoes, grapes, wine and cheeses from Naxos are well known. The wine-pressing and the "chatzanemata" (the making of tsipouro, a white spirit) is a party occasion for the locals. They preserve the customs and traditions of the island with the "koudounatous" and "kordelatous" during Mardigras, the "Klydona" on June 23rd, the local recipes, the fairs, the folk dances, the "kotsakia" (two-verse poems). Naxos is also known for its weavings and embroideries.

In Naxos you will feel welcome wherever you go whether just for a few days or for long vacation.You will come across a society that consists of warm and hospitable people: they are the real beauty of Naxos.
 

With jeep, bike, walking or even swimming, Naxos is full of surprises! Paths or streets that traverse the island from coast to coast lead to virgin gardens, historical monuments, beaches….

If you like hiking don't omit to climb to the top of Za (the tallest mountain of Cyclades) and visit the cave of Za.

For the bike lovers, the cost line of the NW and from Santa Anna to the Kastraki, is probably the best choice!

Another beautiful and exciting ride can be done on a 4-wheel drive following the route that starts from Komiaki and cuts through the northern part of the island, passes through the town of Myrisi and ends to the west shore near the cove of Abram. Windsurfing is the most popular water sport on the island, aided by the ally "meltemi" wind. In Naxos there are beaches covering all levels and preferences.
 

Naxos can be the starting point for experiencing the nearby islands. Organized excursions and frequently running boat lines connect Naxos with the rest Cycladic islands, like Santorini, the island with the active volcano and the unique landscape, the nearby Paros with its beautiful beaches, Delos the sacred island of the Ancient Greeks, or the cosmopolitan Mykonos.

Also, with Naxos as starting point, you can get to know Amorgos with its amazing medieval capital and wild beauty, or the Little Cyclades (Koufonissia, Iraklia, Schinousa, Donousa) which are NE of Naxos, each one uniquely magic!

Paint me a cavernous waste shore
Cast in the unstilted Cyclades,
Paint me the bold anfractuous rocks
Faced by the snarled and yelping seas.

Display me Aeolus above
Reviewing the insurgent gales
Which tangle Ariadne's hair
And swell with haste the perjured sails.

From: T. S. Eliot, Sweeney Erect

Naxos is an eternity: within this phrase a French sightseer described his impression of the island.

Meadows running down to vast blue beaches, green valleys, hills and mountains, vineries and orchards, medieval towers and castles, superb Byzantine ruins scattered among the olive groves, and simple, wise and warm-hearted people.

With a central position in the Aegean sea, with great spiritual tradition and folklore, unexpected wealth of Byzantine painting, a variety of urban design and architectural monuments from a variety of periods, Naxos is revealed to the visitor step by step and every experience in the place of Ariadne gives you a feeling of fulfillment.

Portara, the big marble gate that stands high on the island of "Bacchus" is the remains of the ancient temple of Apollo that was standing there. The ruins of the temple are called "Palace" implying the palaces of Ligdami the ancient tyrant of Naxos (6th century BC). The legend says that Theseus abandoned Ariadne there when he came back from Crete.

The lily-white chapel of Our Lady the "Mirtidiotissa" is the solemn promise of a TSIROGOTI who shipwrecked there. In ancient times the temple of Poseidon was standing here. High on the hillside of Chora stands the Venetian castle that was fortified with 12 towers. It was built in 1207. Its main buildings are the Tower of Sanoudou, the Catholic Metropolis, the Jesuit monastery (French commercial school), the Ursulines monastery, the Capuchin monastery.

The Chora castle with its mansions, is decorated with crests of Venetian rulers and is inhabited contiguously since 1207. There you can also see the archaeological museum with the famous Cycladic idols and the Naxos Archive with rare manuscripts.

Some of the most beautiful monuments are from the long Byzantine period: Gorgeous churches - jewels that you can see all over in villages, mountains and the countryside.

In the monastery Our lady Drosiani you can see the older wall paintings in the Balkans.

Our Lady "Protothroni" in Chalki has a history of more than 2.000 years and St. George "Diasoritis" is similar in history and beauty. In Kerami the church of the Apostles is like a beautiful drawing with background the olive grove! St. Mamas in Potamia is the local saint, protector of the shepherds. Here you will see another Byzantine monument of the 9th century.

Churches and country chapels are all over Naxos with various architectural styles. Abstract (from the war of icons), two-aisle where one aisle is catholic and the other orthodox, from the times when the unity of the Catholic and the Orthodox churches was aimed. Especially interesting are the monasteries that look like fortresses and their towers, having several styles like archaic, monastic, Byzantine, medieval and Hellenistic too!

The monastery of Photodoti in Danako is the oldest monastery on the island and looks like a tower from a fairy tale! Our Lady the Highest in Egares, the tower of Himaros (4th century) is one of the most important monuments in Naxos, circular, with four floors, build with local marble, the tower of Agia e.t.c.

The ancient inhabitants of Naxos built many castles in which people continued to live in the Byzantine era and in the Venetian domination. The castle of Apalirou, the Upper castle, the castle of Sanoudou, Kalogeros and more. On the foothills of the Upper Castle, in Tragea, is the graveyard of Geometric times, in which circular graves were discovered (Homeric Era) with very important findings.

In Naxos you will see temples that used to be places of worship for Jupiter, Dionysus and Demetra. Jupiter was raised in Naxos in the cave of Za and was worshiped as a protector of the sheep.

In a field in Livadia the sanctum of Dionysus was found in Iria (the older typical structure in Cyclades). In Giroulas near Sagri village is the marble temple dedicated to Apollo and Demetra, one of the best preserved archaic buildings.

In the years of its great prosperity (7th - 6th century BC), Naxos was the dominator in Cyclades. Project and present of the people of Naxos of this era is the temple of Apollo, the lions of Delos. Of the same era is the half-finished Kouros (young man's statue) in Melanes at the site of Flerio. A stony mass with a broken leg, that rests for centuries between the waters, the sycamores and the rosebays.

There is another Kouros on the northern part of Naxos, laying down in an ancient quarry. It represents Dionysus, and its length is more than 10 meters.

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Traveling Naxos - 5 Routes