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Naxos: Ancient Isle of the Cyclades

Often overlooked by it’s more fancy near neighbours of Mykonos, Santorini, Paros and Ios, Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades and less affected by tourism.

Marble Quarry
Marble Quarry
Here in the island’s rugged and green interior agriculture is still a mainstay and in ancient times giant marble quarries supplied the builders and statue makers of Classical Greece.
Unfinished Kouri statue - 6thC BC
Unfinished Kouri statue – 6thC BC
You can still see quarries cut into the mountainsides today and the trade goes on. It’s possible to see massive unfinished kouri, human figures cut from the rock more than two and a half thousand years ago, in sanctuaries nearby.
The unfinished Temple of Apollo
The unfinished Temple of Apollo
In Naxos town an arch from the unfinished Temple of Apollo, erected by a tyrant ruler in 600 BC but never completed, dominates the entrance to the picturesque town.
Byzantine Church Interior
Byzantine Church Interior
There are plenty of Byzantine churches on Naxos but like Crete and Corfu the island was also a base for the Venetians from the 13th to the 17th centuries.
Venetian Tower
Venetian Tower
The ruins of about 30 Venetian towers, used as fortifications, still survive today.
And handsome Venetian buildings and villas can also be seen and visited.
Venetian buiilding 
Venetian building

 

Destination – Greece and the Greek Islands