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Portara. Portara is situated
on a small rocky island on the fringe of the harbour and
it is the monument which makes the most impression on the
visitors,having become the island trademark. The Portara,
as it's called, was put in place around 520 B.C. by a
tyrant named Lygdamis, and was to be a suitably grand
entrance to the greatest temple to Apollo in all Greece.
But Lygdamis was overthrown in 506, the temple was left
unfinished, and 2,000 years later it was still being
plundered for its marble.
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Kastro. Border tower
protecting the fortress (Castro) of Sanoudos in Chora,
Naxos. The wall surrounding the fortress is pentagonal and
has three gates. The Glezos tower (Krispi) stands near the
northwestern gate and extends in part along the western
and northern side of the fortress (Castro). It has four
levels (floors) and it is the only tower in Naxos that has
also a round tower attached to it. In 1207 Frankish rule
was established in the Aegean. The Venetian Markos II
Sanoudos built the fortress of Chora in Naxos with circuit
towers, one of which, the Glezos tower (Crispi) is still
preserved. Over the main entrance to the tower is the
coat-of arms of the Crispi family.In the centre of the
castle settlement there is a square with the Catholic
Cathedral,the school Ursuline nuns,the Kappela Kazatza and
the business school where the famous Greek novelist Nikos
Kazantzakis studied for a year. Nowadays the
Archaeologocal Museum of Naxos is housed in this building.
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Old town.Outside the castle area
there are developed two other settlements. Bourgo, on the
western side of the hill near the sea, with its Orthodox
Cathedral and Nio Horio (New Village), originally
inhabited by Cretans, as well as a Jewish quarter nearby.
The need for some kind of defense against enemy attacks, a
prudent use of the limited available space and the
durability of the local building materials determined the
way the houses of the ordinary people were built not only
in Hora but also in the villages.In the traditional
settlements the houses are adjoined to each other, with
small courtyards. These houses were often extended over
the next door house or over the street, creating the
"stegasta" (sheltered streets), a distinctive feature of
the streets of Naxos. The streets paved with slabs of
stone are very narrow; they are usually less than 2 m
wide. Nowadays, the same narrow streets of Hora are full
of life and colour and visitors can enjoy shopping
facilities, night entertaiment, tradiotional food and
music, etc
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Church of Drosiani.The church is
near the village of Moni in the area of Tragaia, Naxos. It
is an Early Christian, tri-apsidal church with a dome.
Three single-room chapels are incorporated along the
northern side. The interior wall surfaces have wall
paintings of various phases.The earliest layer of wall
paintings, which dates to the end of the 6th and beginning
of the 7th centuries has been revealed in the dome, the
sanctum and in the northern apse. The latest layer on both
dome and apse is datable to the 13th and 14th centuries;
it has been removed from the wall. The church was probably
originally the Katholikon of the Monastery. Later on,
information about the Drosiane is given by the Duke of the
Aegean Sea, Ioannes IV Crispos (1555) and others. In
addition, benedictory inscriptions of the 6th and 7th
centuries are preserved on the walls. The church was
restored in 1964. Cleaning of the wall paintings and
removal of the most recent layers has been carried out
over the years 1964 - 1971.
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Kouros of Melanes. At Flerio, near
the village of Melanes 15 km east of the main port of
Chora, are the ancient marble quarries . There are two
giant 6.4 meters kouroi still lying in an unfinshed state
among the olive trees here. Statues were roughed out in
the quarries and then sent, finished or unfinished to
their final destinations. These kouroi were never finished
for unknown reasons and have lain here for millenia since.
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Hotel Villa Flora Studios and Apartments
Saint George, Naxos Town, 843 00 Naxos Island, Cyclades, Greece
Tel: +30 22850 24745 - Fax: +30 22850 24745
Mob: +30 6947 375 096, +30 6947 375 097
Association Naxos Hotels Member
Email: info@naxos-villaflora.com
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