Naxos

About Naxos

By the ULTIMATE Athens City Guide Editorial Team

The largest of the Cyclades: a Venetian old town crowned by a castle, the great marble Portara by the harbour, long sandy beaches, marble mountain villages and the best cheese and potatoes in the islands.

The back story

Naxos is the largest and most fertile island of the Cyclades, with mountains, valleys and enough farmland to feed itself, which gave it a confidence its smaller neighbours lacked. In myth, it is the island where Theseus left Ariadne after slaying the Minotaur, and where the god Dionysus found and married her.

In the 6th century BC the tyrant Lygdamis began a vast temple to Apollo on the islet of Palatia by the harbour. It was never finished, but its colossal marble doorway, the Portara, still stands, the symbol of the island and a famous place to watch the sunset. In the mountains, unfinished giant statues, or kouroi, still lie where ancient sculptors abandoned them, at Melanes and Apollonas.

In the 6th century BC the tyrant Lygdamis began a vast temple to Apollo on the islet of Palatia by the harbour.

In 1207 the Venetian Marco Sanudo made Naxos the capital of the Duchy of the Archipelago, which ruled much of the Cyclades for more than three centuries, and Catholic Venetian families built the castle and mansions that still crown the old town.

Chora

Naxos town climbs from the harbour through the lanes of the old market quarter, Bourgos, to the Kastro, the Venetian castle district with its Catholic cathedral, mansions with coats of arms and the archaeological museum. Wander in the evening, when the lanes are cool and the tavernas fill up.

Beaches and villages

The west coast south of Chora is one long run of sand: Agios Georgios by the town, then Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna and the wilder dunes of Plaka, Mikri Vigla and beyond, with shallow water ideal for families. Inland, the Tragea valley is full of olive groves and Byzantine chapels, Halki has a distillery of kitron, the local citrus liqueur, and Apiranthos is a beautiful village of marble lanes. Walkers can climb Mount Zas, at just over 1,000 metres the highest peak in the Cyclades, where Zeus was said to have been raised.

Naxian food is a highlight: graviera and arseniko cheeses, famous potatoes, local meat and wine.

Getting there

Naxos has a small airport with flights from Athens of about 45 minutes. Ferries from Piraeus take roughly three and a half hours on a high-speed boat and about five to six on a conventional ferry. Naxos is a ferry hub, with frequent connections to Paros, Mykonos, Santorini, Ios and Amorgos, and small local ferries to the Small Cyclades.

Naxos at a glance

Ferry times are typical and change with the season, the boat and the number of stops; check current timetables with the ferry companies or Ferryhopper before you travel.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Naxos before you go.