Naxos Villages IV

Moni Village
A popular, though strenuous hike leads over the mountain from Apiranthos to Moni, though the drive up to this this village from Halki is quite beautiful as well. On the way up, one passes the 9th century AD Drosiani monastery with its frescoes, and, just below this hill-top town, one of the best examples in the world of a ‘hairpin –turn’. Entering the village, one passes a few kafenia and tavernas. Moni has spectacular views of mountain peaks, a fine old square (with no stores or cafes), and many old stone houses. One can walk through beautiful countryside between Halki and Moni. The road leading on from this village eventually meets the fork with the parallel road that leads north towards Koronos from Apiranthos, both of these roads offering thrilling views of terraced land and mountains, though it is the road from Apiranthos that has sea views along the way, making it worth renting a car if only to go by one route and return by the other. Once one gets to the fork marked by the church Stavros (Cross), sea views are possible in both directions at this narrow part of the island.

Keramoti Village
This remarkable village is down a winding road to the west right as one reaches the Stavros fork, and the road to it is marked, though many people most likely drive right on by. If one goes slowly though, one can see the village far below the main road when coming from Moni, nestled at the bottom of its mile and more of switchbacks (paved), where it is surrounded by green mountains, the orange dome of its church glinting in the sun on a summer day. Though many houses in this old village have been neglected, its setting is magnificent, and there’s a stream running through lush terraces on the edge of the town. Long steps lead down to a second stream valley from another part of the village, and though the streambed is usually dry, it runs out to sea between tall slopes. There’s no commercial development whatsoever in Keramoti, unless one counts the old kafenio, open only sporadically, which serves more as a local hangout than a business. There are very few year-round inhabitants in this lonely, though highly evocative place.