Naxos (island)
Naxos (
Greek: Νάξος;
Italian:
Nicsia) is a
Greek island, the largest island (428 km²) in the
Cyclades island group in the
Aegean. It was the centre of archaic
Cycladic culture.
The largest city and capital of the island is Hora, sometimes called Naxos City, with about 7,000 inhabitants. The main villages are: Filoti, Apiranthos, Tragea (Chalki), Koronos, Sangri, Apollonas.
Naxos is a popular tourist destination, with several easily accessible ruins. It has many beautiful beaches, such as those at Agia Anna, Agios Prokopios, Alikos, Kastraki, Mikri Vigla, Plaka, and Agios Georgios, most of them near Hora.
Naxos is the most fertile island of the Cyclades. It has a good supply of water in a region where water is usually inadequate. Mount Zas (1,004 metres) is the highest peak in the Cyclades, and tends to trap the clouds, permitting greater rainfall.
| Year | Communal population | Change | Municipal population | Change | Island population | Change | Density 428 |
|---|
| 1981 | 3,884 | - | - | - | 14,037 | - | 32.8/km² |
| 1991 | 4,334 | 450/11.49% | 9,824 | - | 14,838 | 801/5.7% | 34.69/km² |
|
Naxos city by day during the tourist season |
|
Naxos city, Temple entrance landmark |
According to a story in
Greek mythology, the young
Zeus was raised in a cave on Mt. Zas ("Zas" meaning "Zeus").
Homer mentions "Dia"; literally the sacred island "of the Goddess".
Karl Kerenyi, speaking for the ancient Greeks, explains::"This name, Dia, which means 'heavenly' or 'divine', was applied to several small craggy islands in our [
Aegean ] sea, all of them lying close to larger islands, such as
Crete or Naxos. The name "Dia" was even transferred to the island of Naxos itself, since it was more widely supposed than any other to have been the nuptial isle of
Dionysus." (Kerenyi 1951 pp271-2)
One legend has it that in the Heroic Age before the
Trojan War, on this island
Theseus abandoned
Ariadne, daughter of
Minos, King of
Crete, after she had helped him kill the
Minotaur and to escape from the
Labyrinth. Dionysus, god of the island and protector of wine, festivities, and the primal energy of life, met her and fell in love with her. But eentually Ariadne, unable to bear her separation from Theseus, killed herself, according to the Athenians, or ascended to heaven, as the older versions had it.
According to another mythological story, the
Aloadae had piled
Mt. Ossa and
Mt. Pelion on top of each other in front of
Mt. Olympus, and were seen as a threat to the gods. To solve this problem,
Artemis told Otus, one of the two brothers, that if he shall stop the siege of the Olympus she would come and be his lover at Naxos. Another story says that the Aloadae had actually settled Naxos.
Revolt of Naxos
In
502 BCE the inhabitants of Naxos rebelled against their masters in the
Persian Empire; this revolt led to the larger
Ionian Revolt, and then to the
Persian War between
Greece and Persia.
Greek and Byzantine Naxos
During the
8th and
7th centuries BCE, Naxos dominated commerce in the
Cyclades.
The Dukes of Naxos
Main article: Duchy of the Archipelago.
 |
The Duchy of Naxos and states in the Morea, carved from the Byzantine Empire, as they were in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911) |
In the aftermath of the
Fourth Crusade, with a
Latin Emperor under the influence of the Venetians established at
Constantinople, the
Venetian Marco Sanudo conquered the island and soon captured the rest of the islands of the Cyclades, establishing himself as Duke of Naxia, or Duke of the Archipelago. Twenty-one dukes in two dynasties ruled the Archipelago, until
1566; Venetian rule continued in scattered islands of the Aegean until
1714.
Ottoman Naxos, 1564–1821
The Ottoman administration remained essentially in the hands of the Venetians; the Porte's concern was satisfied by the returns of taxes. Very few Turks ever settled on Naxos, and Turkish influence on the island is slight. Turkish sovereignty lasted until 1821, when the islands revolted; Naxos finally became a member of the Greek state in 1832.
Naxos has schools, lyceums (middle schools), gymnasia (secondary school), churches, a post office and squares (
plateies).
*
Kerenyi, Karl 1951.
The Gods of the Greeks.
*Location, with links to aerial photos and maps:
*
Communities of the Cyclades*
WikiTravel page on Naxos*
Sites and Photos - Images of Naxos
