Next day (June 11th) we left early to head north to Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades islands. Unfortunately our route was right into the light winds so it was another day of motoring. Kristien had arranged a slip in the marina but we had to arrive on the early side to make sure we had it (and also to leave time for exploring the old city).
The old city is full of small alleyways and several Venetian buildings. The town adjacent to the harbor area is very busy with tourist restaurants and shops. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the waterfront.
We had planned two nights in the Naxos harbor; the next day we rented cars so that Kristien could give us a tour of some of the archaeological sites on the island. We started at the Temple of Dionysus at Yria, which has been a site of religious ceremonies since the 14th century BCE. The temple shown here is more recent: 5th century BCE.
Next we drove to the trail up to Zeus's cave (one of a few locations where he is believed to have spent his childhood). The hike up to the cave was initially on a trail, but ended with a scramble over the rocks to the cave entrance. Kristien pointed out old pottery shards littering the inside of the cave.
The Church of Panagia Drossiani dates to the 4th century and contains some frescoes (unfortunately not well preserved and fading) from the 6th century. The church has received additions over the years so only part of what's shown here is the original structure.
For lunch Kristien took us to a small family-run restaurant in the small village of Koronos. The town is built into the side of hill, and we had to walk down over a hundred stairs to get to the restaurant, but it was worth it. The food was several courses, all amazing.
After lunch we drove on to the old quarry of Apollonas Kouros where there is a massive partially carved statue, believed to be of Dionysus.
We finished with a swim at the beach in the small village of Apollonas before driving back to Naxos harbor.
No comments:
Post a Comment