Naxos
Naxos Island Tour of History and Flavors
Starting from your hotel we head to the first site for the day. In the fertile plains of western Naxos, between reeds and neatly cultivated plots, lies a temple fittingly dedicated to the goddess of agriculture, the Temple of Demeter. A century older than the Parthenon, this temple has managed to weather two and a half millennia with more than 50% of its original structure preserved carrying invaluable information on ancient architecture.
Moving on we arrive at Halki, a village situated in a fertile plateau, adorned with beautiful neoclassical mansions and home to the second site on our journey; the distillery that first made the –today– iconic liqueur “Kitron”, Vallindas Distillery. We get to know everything about the production (tree, fruit distillation methods)and the consumption (taste tasting) of one of the three PDO liqueurs in the country.
Making our way back south our next stop for the day is in yet another part of the island blessed with fertile soil, Eggares. There, we visit the village’s traditional 19th-century olive press and gain precious insight into practices and a way of life that now belongs to the past/ now long gone. After our in the olive press, time for tasting some olive oil!
Return to Naxos town for a historical walking tour. On the borderline between sea and sun, stands proudly for more than 2500 years the temple of Apollo, a great gate, “the Portara”, on the island of Palatia. As you enter and exit the medieval castle doors, you will learn all about the island’s Venetian and Ottoman past, encounter picturesque churches, the Archaeological Museum, and the Capuchin Convent. Wherever you look at the marble lintels and the coats of arms a strange feeling of awe has hold of you. From the Early Cycladic civilization to the Roman and Byzantine era, the exhibits and the history of the times when created will fill you with enthusiasm.