Naoussa, the harbour of the north

Naoussa sits at the head of a wide, sheltered bay on the north coast of Paros, the kind of natural harbour sailors have used since antiquity. For centuries it was a fishing village and a small port, looking out towards Naxos and Mykonos across the water.

In the Venetian era, when Paros belonged to the Duchy of the Archipelago, a small fortress was built in the 15th century at the mouth of the little harbour to guard the boats and the bay. Its walls are now partly sunk in the sea, and on summer evenings the fishing caiques tie up right beneath them. During the Russo-Turkish war, from 1770 to 1775, the Russian fleet used the bay of Naoussa as its base in the Aegean.

The village behind the harbour is a classic Cycladic maze, built to confuse pirates and the wind: white houses with blue doors and windows, stone lanes outlined in white, arches, steps and small chapels. Above it all stands the big church of Agios Nikolaos, the cathedral of the village. In summer the harbour fills for festivals, with boats lit with torches and music on the quay.

Today Naoussa is the most fashionable place on the island, with boutiques in its lanes and cocktail bars on the water. But in the morning the fishermen still mend their nets on the quay, and you can still find a simple table by the boats for grilled octopus and a glass of ouzo as the sun goes down.