Driving around Naxos

Unlike Athens, the traffic on Naxos seemed sparse enough and the pace slow enough for us to consider renting a car to see the largest island in the Cyclades (Kick-LAH-des) group of Greek Islands. We left the southern coastal village of Alyko and drove to Dimitras' Temple in the agricultural center of the island. This made perfect sense, considering she was the goddess of the harvest, and 6th century B.C. farmers would have wanted to honor and please her as much as possible. After the spread of Christianity through the Greek Islands in the early centuries of A.D. this temple was converted into a Church.

In fact, on this island of Naxos with a population of 20,000 people, there are 500 churches or chapels. (That is one for every 40 people...even more than in Greenville County!) Many of these chapels are built by homeowners or neighbors or small villages, and they invite the priest to come only occasionally to celebrate the Eucharist--perhaps on the feast day for the saint for which the place is named.

After Dimitras' Temple, we drove through another charming, small village in the mountains, and proceeded to a spectacular lookout near the peak of Mount Zeus, the tallest mountain on any of the Cyclades Islands. Unfortunately, our designated driver was an acrophobic (a Greek compound word: acro (high) phobic (fear), or one who has a fear of heights). The road was simply too narrow and the guard rail non-existent, and the slope to close to 90 degrees for us to proceed on this so-called two way street!

We found a 'lookout parking spot' and proceeded to walk a little further up (with one member of our party staying close to the inside of the street.) From this point, we could see a chapel on the very top of the opposite hill, composed of solid rock. It brought to mind our own patron Saint Peter, and Jesus' words--"You are Peter (Petra means rock) and on this rock I will build my Church!"


We proceeded to Apiranthos, also known as the "Marble Village." It is near the places where marble is mined and processed. In fact, Naxos was an ancient source for marble statuary and blocks for much of the classic Greek architecture. Imagine having sidewalks made of fine marble. This is the case in Apiranthos. We enjoyed lunch in a traditional Greek Tavern with views of the surrounding mountains.

After lunch we drove to another ancient archaeological site with two Kouros (large statues of men) dating to the 6th century, B.C. Located near the marble mines, these broken bodies were probably prepared for export to Athens or some other location, but after being damaged were simply cast aside.

On the way from this site, we paused in a parking lot to verify our directions, bought some fresh fruit from a vendor, and took this picture toward the North which lacks a visible horizon--the shades of blue water blending like watercolor impressionist smears into the lighter shades of blue sky.


It was a beautiful day on Naxos, and a breathtaking amount of diversity, history and scary, scary heights in such a small place!