Naxos Island
Naxos is one of the most beautiful and most popular Greek Islands. It offers an alluring mix of attractive port town, a succession of wonderful easily accessible sand beaches, an interior landscape of lush valleys, picturesque villages and monuments.
Naxos was an important Byzantine centre and boasts about 500 churches and monasteries. The island is a wonderful place to explore on foot and walking is a draw for many visitors.
Naxos Town (Hora), on the west coast, is the island's port and capital. It is a large town, divided into two historic neighbourhoods - Bourgos, where the Greeks lived and Kastro (Castle) on the hill above, where the Venetian Catholics lived. A causeway to the north of the port leads to the Palatia Islet and the unfinished Temple of Apollo (Portara), Naxos' most famous landmark.
The coastline south of Naxos Town is a beach strip without equal in other Greek Islands. Running for kilometres between headland and cove are a succession of excellent beaches. The nearest lies on the edge of the town at Saint George. It is an excellent beach with fine sand.
Places to visit include
- Portara (Apollon Temple)
- Venetian Castle
- Venetian Museum
- Archaeological Museum
- Naxos Old Town
- Filoti Village
- Apeiranthos Village
- Koronos Village
- Apollon sea side village
- Kouros statue in Melanes
- Saint George Diassoritis
- Panagia Drossiani Church
- Ypsilotera Monastery
