The white houses of Chora climbing to the Kastro

Naxos · Towns & villages

Towns & villages of Naxos

Harbour towns, mountain hamlets and the places where island life still follows its own rhythm.

The west coast

Naxos Town (Chora)

A Venetian castle town above the harbour, with the Portara at its door

The island's capital and port, climbing from the harbour to the walls of the Kastro, the castle the Venetian dukes built in the 13th century. Below it spread the old quarters of Bourgos and the beach of Grotta, and on an islet joined by a causeway stands the Portara, the marble gate of a temple of Apollo that was never finished.

Sunset at the Portara
The lanes of the Venetian Kastro
Cycladic figurines in the Archaeological Museum
Dinner in the old quarter of Bourgos

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The west coast

Agios Prokopios & Plaka

Long sandy beaches just south of town

South of Chora the west coast is one long line of sand: Agios Prokopios with its clear, calm water, the fishing harbour and tavernas of Agia Anna, then Plaka, a beach of dunes several kilometres long. It is the place to stay for swimming, with small hotels a few steps from the sea and the sunset over Paros every evening.

Clear, shallow water at Agios Prokopios
Fish tavernas at Agia Anna harbour
The dunes of Plaka beach
Sunset over Paros

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Tragea & the mountains

Halki

The old capital of the olive valley, and home of kitron

Once the main village of the Tragea, the wide valley of olive groves in the heart of the island. Its lanes are full of Venetian tower houses, neoclassical mansions, galleries and small cafés, and the Vallindras distillery has made kitron, the citron liqueur of Naxos, here since 1896. Just outside the village is the Byzantine church of Panagia Protothronos, with some of the oldest frescoes on the island.

Tasting kitron at the Vallindras distillery
Panagia Protothronos and its frescoes
Lunch under the vines in the lanes
Walks through the olive groves of the Tragea

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Tragea & the mountains

Filoti

The biggest mountain village, at the foot of Mount Zas

The largest village on Naxos, spread over the slopes of Mount Zas, the highest peak in the Cyclades. Old men sit under the plane tree in the square, the church of Panagia Filotissa rises over the rooftops, and the Barozzi tower recalls the Venetian lords. From here a marked path climbs to the summit and the cave where, in the myth, the young Zeus was hidden.

The square under the plane tree
The climb to the top of Mount Zas
The Cave of Zas
Village tavernas with mountain views

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Tragea & the mountains

Apiranthos

The marble village, with four small museums

A grey-stone village high on the mountain, where the lanes, steps and squares are paved with marble. The people here have their own dialect, and many trace their families back to Crete. There are small archaeological, geological, natural history and folk museums, Venetian towers, and cafés on little squares under the trees.

Marble lanes and arches
The Archaeological Museum and its carved plaques
Coffee on a small square
The road on to the north

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The north

Koronos

The emery miners' village in a green ravine

A steep village built like an amphitheatre in a green ravine in the mountains of the north. For more than a century its men worked the emery mines in the hills around it, and the old cableway still runs down towards Moutsouna on the east coast. Today it is a quiet place of whitewashed stairs, springs and tavernas under the vines.

Stairs and lanes in the ravine
Lunch in a vine-covered courtyard
The old emery mines and cableway
The drive through the mountains to Apollonas

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The north

Apollonas

A fishing village with a giant in its quarry

A small fishing village on a bay at the northern tip of the island, with fish tavernas on the waterfront and a sandy beach. On the hillside above it lies a marble kouros more than 10 m long, left unfinished in its ancient quarry in the 7th or 6th century BC.

The colossal kouros in the quarry
Fish by the harbour
A swim in the bay
The coast road back to Chora at sunset

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Regions

Where to base yourself in Naxos

The west coast

Chora with its Kastro and the Portara, then the long sandy beaches of Agios Georgios, Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna, Plaka and Mikri Vigla.

Tragea & the mountains

The olive valley in the middle of the island and the villages around Mount Zas: Halki, Filoti, Apiranthos and Sangri, with Byzantine churches and Venetian towers.

The north

Wild mountain roads, the emery miners' village of Koronos, and the fishing village of Apollonas with its giant kouros.

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