Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful of the Greek islands, Naxos is one of those places that will make you consider never going home again. There is a little bit of something for everyone here with some of the best beaches in Greece, a hinterland dotted with quaint mountain villages, imposing mountain massifs and fertile valleys filled with olive groves, fascinating archaeological sites and a food scene based on a wealth of local products.
As you approach the island with the ferry, the first thing you are going to notice is the marble gate of Portara, which is the iconic image of Naxos. Although it looks like an isolated monument from a distance, a closer look reveals that it stands on one end of a large rectangular marble foundation, facing towards Apollo’s birthplace in Delos. Altogether, it appears that the Portara was the entrance to a monumental marble temple in the Ionic style, and its stylistic elements suggest a very early date, in the middle of the sixth century BC, when fully marble-built temples were unknown in Greece. This is one of the best places to catch some sunset views as the sun lights up the gate painting it a glowing red with Naxos town in the background.
Naxos capital, like the capital of many other islands, is called Chora. It is a settlement with Aegean-style whitewashed houses which spreads in and around Naxos medieval citadel founded in the 13th century. The area inside the walls of the castle is the most interesting part of the Chora, and passing through the surviving gates the visitor enters a world of tranquility with narrow cobbled streets, courtyards adorned with flowers and stone-built mansions with coats of arms on their lintels.
Being a rather large island, the Naxians speak of two Naxos functioning at different pace. On the one hand stands the main town and the endless coastline of the south, comprising a string of beaches of superb turquoise waters and golden sands, which begin at Chora and finishing at the cedar tree forest of Aliko. On the other hand, the mountainous one with the fertile plain of Tragea which lies at the center of the island. Unlike many of its neighbors, that largely abandoned agriculture and their prosperity depends on the summer tourist season, green and fertile Naxos is self-sufficient. Much of its fantastic culinary scene comes from products grown on the island, as it has wonderful groves of olives and fruit trees, wheat fields and good grazing land for the cows, sheep and goats whose milk goes into a wide variety of Naxian cheese.
In this part, you can find some of the most beautiful villages of the island which aren’t completely overtaken by tourism. Chalki which used to be the capital of Naxos, is one of them. With Venetian towers and Byzantine structures like the Church of Panagia dating back to the 9th century, it has a long history. Here you can find the historic Valindras distillery, which has been making citron liqueur on the same site since 1896 and hosts a small museum with traditional brass stills and bottling equipment. Not far away is Apeiranthos, Naxos loveliest village, which lies in the foothills of Mount Fanari. Venetian towers, pretty old two-storey houses, marble paved alleys with arches above them and picturesque squares. Its inhabitants are considered to have largely come from other areas and Apeiranthos’s local language idiom, mores and customs are quite distinct from other Naxos villages.
Although you can drive around easily, one of the best ways to explore the island and tour some of the smaller villages is on foot. Naxos footpaths, which constituted the main mean of access and transportation from one village to another and from the settlements to the fields and other farming areas form antiquity to the late 1960’s, measure hundreds of kilometers in total length. One of our favorite hikes starts from the village of Melanes and in the beginning it crosses the water-plentiful central part of the island as it heads towards the lovely village of Myli, which takes its name from the many old watermills. From there you continue towards Flerio, the place where two of the Kouroi lie down. They are ancient statues of young men, dating from the Archaic age between the 7th and the 6th century BC. The route continues to Apano Kastro, an ancient fort on an imposing rock, which was inhabited from the early historical era to the period of Frankish rule. As we pass it and on our way to Chalki, the landscape changes considerably and is being dominated by huge disintegrating rocks of migmatite which constitute one of the most ancient geological formations in the Cycladic region.
Written by Dimitris Papageorgiou
Gallery
