Naxos Town

Hora/ Naxos Town
This island port has a smallish harbor for the larger ferries, and a yet smaller harbor, a short walk up the paralia (waterfront), which serves yachts, fishing boats, cruise ferries, and the Skopeliti, the small ferry that goes to the little islands off the east and south coast of Naxos and to Amorgos.

Approaching the main harbor by ferry, one sees the little islet of Palatia, with its large marble portal, known as Portara, said to have been for an unfinished temple of Apollo. The salient feature in the town itself is its long Venetian kastro (castle) up on the hill over the harbor. The waterfront has nicely paved walks on either side of the frontage road that runs along it, the outer one with benches by the water, the inner one with sidewalk cafes and ouzeries with canopies and awnings to protect against inclement weather and heat, and many shops, tavernas, bakeries, banks, tourist offices, and the like. Two liquor stores sell the local island kitron, along with local wines, ouzo and raki; there are a couple of good, traditional tavernas with dishes one can view in the glass ‘vitrina’.

Back in from the water is the Old Market Town (Palaia Agora), with narrow winding streets that pass under archways, where one finds yet more tavernas, cafes, bars, clothing and jewelry shops, some vegetable markets and small grocery stores. This was the old Greek Orthodox quarter during Venetian times, called Bourgos. These little lanes offer a refreshing cool stroll during the heat of the day, and come alive at night during the summer with the many visitors to the island.

One can walk uphill from any of these little streets and run into the Venetian Kastro, which has a little archaeological museum. On the south end of town is a busy shopping street that runs perpendicular to the waterfront, and beyond it still further south, the old town square Courthouse Square, with a little fountain and cafes all around it. Two streets lead down from it to the main town beach (Aghios Yiorgos) with more tavernas along the way and along the beach itself, as well as a number of hotels and rooms. The water at the town beach is shallow, and the beach gets crowded in summer; most visitors to the island prefer to go to the beaches farther south.

The Venetian Kastro
After the Cycladic islands fell to Venetians as booty for the horrific Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople (carried out by a partly Venetian force), Naxos became a Venetian duchy for more than three and a half centuries (1204-1564). The 13th century Venetian castle has two of its seven original towers, its north gate a lovely place to enter the complex, with old Venetian houses in the vicinity, one of which has been made into the Della Rocca-Barozzi museum.

Folk music concerts, with a performance of traditional music and dance by local musicians and dancers in costume, are held on the veranda below the museum twice a week for all of the long warmer months. One can’t fail to miss the posters, which are everywhere one looks in town. The Kastro complex includes the Roman Catholic cathedral, a 17th century Ursuline convent, a 17th century French school, which was attended by the famous Greek writer, Nikos Kazantzakis, as well as ceramic and marble-working studios.

Archaeological Museum
Open Tues-Sun 8:30 am-2:30 pm, 3 euros admission. This museum is housed in the old school building; finds are from Naxos, Dhonoussa, Koufonisi,and Keros, and include figurines from the Early Cycladic period. Also exhibited are Late Mycenaean artifacts from Grotta (the district to the east of the harbor), which date from 1400-1100 BC, as well as Archaic and Classical sculpture and pottery from Neolithic through Roman times.