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| Map of Naxos |
Naxos is
the largest and most fertile of all the Cyclades
islands, 430km2 extension and 18.864 population, and with its green
and mountainous highland scenery it appears immediately dissimilar to its
neighbours. The difference is accentuated by the unique architecture of many of
the interior villages: the Venetian Duchy of the Aegean, headquartered here
from 1204 to 1537, left towers and fortified mansions scattered throughout the
island, while medieval Cretan refugees bestowed a singular character upon Naxos's Eastern settlements.
Today Naxos
could easily support itself without visitors by relying on its production of
potatoes, olives, grapes and lemons, but it has thrown in its lot with mass
tourism, so that parts of the island are now almost as busy as Paros in season. The island has plenty to see: the
highest mountains of Cyclades, intriguing
central valleys, a spectacular North coast and long, marvelously sandy beaches
in the Southwest. It is also renowned for its wines, cheese and kitron, a sweet liqueur distilled from
the leaves of this citrus tree and is available in green, yellow or clear
varieties depending on strength and sugar level.
Capital of
the island is Naxos
Town. A really special
place because of the looming fortifies castle. This is where Marco Sanudo, the
13th century Venetian who founded the town and established the Duchy of the
Aegean, and his descendants ruled over the Cyclades.
The most of the town's life occurs by the crowded port esplanade but there is
more life in Naxos
Town in the vast network
of backstreets and low-arched narrow alleys that lead-up through the old town,
Bourgo, to the Castle itself. There are a lot of taverns, shops and cafes in Evripeous Square,
too.
