Naxos Island

The island of Naxos is located in the heart of the Aegean sea and is the largest and most fertile island of the Cyclades. It has a land mass of 428 square kilometers and the total length of its coastline is 148km. it is only 103nm from the harbour of Piraeus.

Since it is the centre of the Cyclades island complex to the west lays Paros Island, north Mykonos Island, to the east the small Cyclades and Amorgos and to the south Ios.

Generally the island is mountainous and rather oval shaped. The highest peak is mount Zas at 1004m. The second tallest peak is that of Koronos. It does however have extensive fertile plains and valleys resulting in a richly diverse landscape.

The climate is a temperate Mediterranean climate with light winters and relatively cool summers due to the summer northern winds which are called “Meltemia”.

The islands total population numbers some 18.200 residents. In the past its main product was emery (also known as Naxian earth) which was excavated on the north eastern end of the island. In the last decades however the tourism industry has developed extensively and a large processing industry in farm and agricultural produce has occurred (wine, cherry confectionary, citrus liqueur, and a very high quality of cheese products). The practice of agriculture (potato, olive oil, vegetables) and animal husbandry is also well developed.

Inhabited from the Neolithic age (5.000B.C.), Naxos has a long and rich history.

There are many myths associated with Naxos, a fact that testifies to the islands importance in antiquity. The most basic of these myths are: a) the raising of Zeus (the king of the 12 gods) from whence the name of the tallest mountain comes (Zeus>Zas) and b) the abandonment of Ariadne by Theseus on Naxos where the God Dionysus betrothed her.

The rich archaeological finds show that Naxos was the centre of the Cycladic civilization (3200 – 2100B.C. ref. Grotta Cycladic sculptures), and the island was inhabited in the Mycenaean period (at Aplomata) and the settlement of the Ionians (circa 1000B.C.)  spurred great development which peaked in the 7th & 6th centuries B.C. (e.g. the Portara – temple to Apollo).

In the Persian wars it sided against the Persians who destroyed the island in 490B.C. it was a member of the Athenian alliance and later passed successively to the hands of the Macedonians, the Ptolemy’s of Egypt, the Rhodians and finally the Romans. It was during the Byzantine years it was part of the Aegean “Thema” (Prefecture) and suffered many pirate attacks, a fact that turned most of the inhabitants inland establishing new settlements and building towers to protect themselves. In 1207 Marco Sanoudo conquers the island and made it the Dutchy of the Archipelago. It was in 1537 that the island was ransacked by Barbarossa and in 1566 it passed into the hands of Joseph Nazi. By 1579 it was conquered in turn by the Turks and was freed along with the other Cyclades during the 1821 Hellenic revolution.

Today Naxos is a typical Cycladic Island with beautiful beaches, much sightseeing, a rich interior (see villages), and a very well developed tourist infrastructure (Summerland hotel).