Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the

Cyclades The CYCLADES computer network () was a French research network created in the early 1970s. It was one of the pioneering networks experimenting with the concept of packet switching and, unlike the ARPANET, was explicitly designed to facilitate i ...

island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Cycladic Culture and in the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

Archaic Period. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abrasives available. The largest town and capital of the island is Chora or Naxos City, with 8,897 inhabitants (2021 census). The main villages are Filoti, Apiranthos, Vivlos, Agios Arsenios, Koronos and Glynado.

History

Mythic Naxos

According to

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, the young

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

was raised in a cave on Mt. Zas ("''Zas''" meaning "''Zeus''").

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

mentions " Dia"; literally the sacred island "of the Goddess". Károly Kerényi explains: One legend has it that in the Heroic Age before the Trojan War,

Theseus Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes desc ...

abandoned Ariadne on this island after she helped him kill the

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

and escape from the Labyrinth.

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

(god of wine, festivities, and the primal energy of life) who was the protector of the island, met Ariadne and fell in love with her. But eventually Ariadne, unable to bear her separation from Theseus, either killed herself (according to the Athenians), or ascended to heaven (as the older versions had it). The Naxos portion of the Ariadne myth is also told in the Richard Strauss opera '' Ariadne auf Naxos''. The giant brothers Otus and Ephialtes figure in at least two Naxos myths: in one,

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

bought the abandonment of a siege they laid against the gods, by offering to live on Naxos as Otus's lover; in another, the brothers had actually settled Naxos. It is also said that the sea god Poseidon was passing by Naxos whilst driving his chariot on the sea surface and is where he first laid eyes on his future wife, the nereid Amphitrite as she was dancing there.

Middle Paleolithic era

Stelida quarry, south-west of

Chora Chora may refer to: Places Greece * Chora, old capital of the island of Alonnisos * Chora, village on the island of Folegandros * Chora, Ios, capital of the island of Ios * Chora, Messenia, a small town in Messenia in the Peloponnese * Chora, p ...

, contains Mousterian tools dating back to the Middle Paleolithic era, which indicates that

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

activity on the island spanned almost 200,000 years ago. The extinct dwarf elephant species '' Palaeoloxodon lomolinoi'' lived on Naxos at some point during the

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

Cycladic civilisation

Zas Cave, inhabited during the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

era, contained objects of stone from

Melos Milos or Melos (; , ; ) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. It is the southwestern-most island of the Cyclades group. The ''Venus de Milo'' (now in the Louvre), the '' Poseidon of Melos'' (now in the ...

and copper objects including a dagger and gold sheet. The presence of gold and other objects within the cave indicated to researchers the status of the inhabitant. Emery was exported to other islands during that time.

Classical era and Greco-Persian Wars

During the

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

and 7th centuries BC, Naxos dominated commerce in the Cyclades.

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

describes Naxos circa 500 BC as the most prosperous Greek island. In 499 BC, an unsuccessful attack on Naxos by Persian forces led several prominent men in the Greek cities of Ionia to rebel against the Persian Empire in the Ionian Revolt, and then to the Persian War between Greece and Persia. Naxos was the first Greek

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

to attempt to leave the

Delian League The Delian League was a confederacy of Polis, Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership (hegemony) of Classical Athens, Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Achaemenid Empire, Persian ...

circa 469 BC; Athens quickly quashed the notion and forcibly removed all military naval vessels from the island's control. Athens then demanded all future payments from Naxos in the form of gold rather than military aid.

Byzantine era

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, the island was part of the province of the Islands. Pope Martin I was detained on the island of Naxos for almost a year after he was arrested by Byzantine authorities in Rome due to his holding of a synod that condemned monotheletism. He was held on the island prior to being taken to Constantinople for trial. While detained on the island, he wrote to a certain Theodore living in Constantinople. Under the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, Naxos was part of the thema of the Aegean Sea, which was established in the mid-9th century. In Byzantine times, the island's capital was on the southern fortress of Apalyres. During this time, it suffered from Saracen raids, particular during the existence of the

Emirate of Crete The Emirate of Crete ( or , ; ) was an Arab Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to Siege of Chandax, the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empire in 961. Although the emirate recognized the ...

(824–961), to which the island occasionally paid tribute. Traces of Muslim artistic influence are visible in frescoes from the 10th century. Nevertheless, as in Antiquity, Naxos was celebrated for its agriculture and animal husbandry; the 12th-century geographer al-Idrisi records extensive cattle raising on the island. In the late 12th century, it may have been the capital of a short-lived thema of the " Dodekanesos".

Duchy of Naxos

In the aftermath of the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, with a Latin Empire under the influence of the Venetians established at

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, the Venetian Marco Sanudo conquered Naxos and most of the other Cyclades in 1205–1207. Of all the islands, only on Naxos was there any opposition to Sanudo: a group of Genoese pirates had occupied the castle between the end of Byzantine rule and Sanudo's arrival. To steel his band's resolve, Sanudo burnt his galleys "and bade his companions to conquer or die". The pirates surrendered the castle after a five weeks' siege. Naxos became the seat of Sanudo's realm, known as the "Duchy of Naxos" or "Duchy 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. Under Venetian rule, the island was called by its Italian name, ''Nasso''. The Sanudi introduced Western feudal law to the island, based on the '' Assizes of Romania''. However, the native Greek population continued to use Byzantine law for civil matters at least until the late 16th century. In the 13th century, following the capture of

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

and

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...

on the southern Anatolian coast by the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

, refugees from these areas settled in Naxos. In the 14th century, the island was once more exposed to raids, this time from the Anatolian Turkish beyliks, chiefly the Aydınids. In turn, the Sanudi assisted the Genoese in capturing

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

in 1304 and the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

in their conquest of

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

in 1309, in order to stop these islands being used as Turkish pirate base. Nevertheless, raids against Naxos are recorded in 1324 and 1326, and in 1341, Umur of Aydın carried off 6,000 people from the island and imposed a payment of tribute. Two years later, however, the Smyrniote crusade captured his main port,

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

I Naxos Nixia - Buondelmonti Cristoforo - 1420

The relief was temporary, however, as Turkish raids recommenced later in the century. The island was so depopulated that Cristoforo Buondelmonti in claimed that there were not enough men to wed the Naxiot women. The rising

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

first attacked the island in 1416, but the Sultans recognized Venetian overlordship over the Duchy in successive treaties, in exchange for an annual tribute.

Ottoman era (1566–1821)

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 was insignificant. Under Ottoman rule the island was known in Turkish as . Ottoman sovereignty lasted until 1821, when the islands revolted; Naxos finally became part of the Greek state in 1832.

Early commentators

Early commentators in English on the island include: Bernard Randolph, in ''The Present State of the Islands in the Archipelago'' (1687, Oxford, pp. 20-21). Jean de Thévenot, in ''Travels into the Levant'' (1687, London, pp. 103–105).

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages. Li ...

, in ''A Voyage Into the Levant'' (1718, London, pp. 161–176). Thomas Bankes et al., in ''A new royal authentic and complete system of universal geography antient and modern...'' (1787, London, p. 943). Edward Daniel Clarke, in ''Travels in Various Countries'' (1814, vol. 3, section 2, London, pp. 377–400). William Martin Leake, in ''Travels in Northern Greece'' (1835, vol. 3, London, pp. 93-95). Theodore Bent, in ''The Cyclades, or Life Among the Insular Greeks'' (1885, London, pp. 329–371).

Geography

Climate

Naxos experiences both a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(''Csa'') and a hot semi-arid climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''BSh'') depending on the location. According to the stations of the National Observatory of Athens, various locations in Naxos have a hot semi-arid climate. Inland areas of the island are much wetter and cooler in winter, owing to their higher elevation.

Economy

Historical population

Tourism

Naxos is a popular tourist destination, with several places of touristic interest, including beaches, villages and old ruins. Beaches on the island include Agia Anna, Agios Prokopios, Aliko, Kastraki, Mikri Vigla, Plaka, and Agios Georgios, most of them on the western side of the island, near Chora. As other cycladic islands, Naxos is considered a windy place perfect for

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

, as well as kitesurfing. There are seven sports clubs in the island that offer both of these sports and other water activities.

Agriculture

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 Zeus () is the highest peak in the Cyclades, and tends to trap the clouds, permitting greater rainfall. This has made

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

an important economic sector with various vegetable and fruit crops as well as cattle breeding, making Naxos the most self-sufficient island in the Cyclades. Naxos is well known within Greece for its "Arseniko Naxou" cheese, potatoes, Kitron (a local lemon-citrus spirit), and Naxian honey (which is largely derived from the nectar of

thyme Thyme () is a culinary herb consisting of the dried aerial parts of some members of the genus ''Thymus (plant), Thymus'' of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are native to Eurasia and north Africa. Thymes have culinary, medici ...

Marble

The quarrying of marble on Naxos began before 550 BCE. Naxian marble was used for the creation of the roof tiles at ancient Olympia and on the Athenian Acropolis, As of 2016, about 5,000 m³ of high value Naxian marble was being exported annually.Trianet: Gestein und Bergbau
.

Sports

* Pannaxiakos A.O. (sports club)

Notable people

* Ecumenical Patriarch Anthimus III of Constantinople (1762–1842) * Ecumenical Patriarch Callinicus III of Constantinople (died 1726) * Keti Chomata (1946–2010), singer * Manolis Glezos (1922–2020), rebel, politician, writer * Giannoulis Fakinos (born 1989), soccer player * Iakovos Kambanelis (1922–2011), poet, playwright, lyricist and novelist * Kostas Manolas (born 1991), soccer player * Stelios Manolas (born 1961), soccer player * Nikolaos Mykonios, fighter of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

and officer of the Greek Army * Iakovos Nafpliotis (1864–1942), cantor * Nicodemus the Hagiorite (1749–1809), saint * Giorgos Ninios (born 1959), actor * Michalis Polytarchou, basketball player, Former Captain of AEK Athens BC * Petros Protopapadakis (1854–1922), Prime Minister of Greece

Gallery

File:Naxos Νάξος Chora 2020-08-20 28 Portara Πορτάρα.jpg, View through Portara on the peninsula Palátia towards Chora of Naxos File:Agios Nikolaos at Grotta, Naxos, 4th to 7th c, 213443.jpg, Agios Nikolaos on the Grotta of Naxos Town (Chora) File:Valley between Potamia and Moni, Naxos, 19M7555.jpg, Valley between Potamia and Moni, Naxos. View from road from Apeiranthos to Filoti File:Heiligtum des Dionysos (Yria) 03.jpg, Sanctuary of Dionysus (Yria) File:028MAD Sphinx.jpg, Sphinx of Naxos, now at Delphi Archaeological Museum File:Building from terrace, Byzantine Museum Naxos, 143770.jpg, Crispi tower, housing the Byzantine museum File:Naos Drosianis Naxos 03.jpg, Panagia Drosiani church, Moni village File:Naxos Moni Faneromenis.JPG, The monastery of Faneromeni File:Akadimoi Naxos Greece 2018081316330N09239.jpg, Chalki, Naxos File:Atsipapi, Naxos, Greece 2018081216580N08690.jpg, Agios Isidoros at Atsipapi File:Kaloxilos Naxos Greece 2018081018100N08139.jpg, Kaloxilos, Naxos File:Vourvouria Naxos Greece 2018081119110NH8230.jpg, Vourvouria File:Catholic cathedral, Kastro, Noxos Town, 1207-1963 AD, 144131.jpg, Presentation of the Lord Catholic church of Naxos File:Koronos, Naxos, 119500.jpg, Koronos village File:Panagia Damiotissa Naxos Greece 2018080816280N05907.jpg, Panagia Damiotissa, Chalki File:TO FILOTI APO TOYS PROPODES TOY ZA.jpeg, Filoti village File:Tower in Filoti, Naxos, commemorated 1620, 119754.jpg, Tower in Filoti File:Απόλλωνας Νάξου.jpeg, Apollonas village File:Naxos Keramoti.JPG, Keramoti village File:Castle (Kastro) in Apeiranthos, Naxos, 101911.jpg, Tower in Apeiranthos File:Aerial view of Hawaii Beach on Naxos Island, Greece.jpg, Hawaii beach, Alykos, Naxos

Citations

General and cited references

* Agelarakis, A., "The Naxos Island Archaic Period Necropolis: Archaeological-Anthropology Research Report", Hellenic Antiquities Authority, ''Archival Report'', 2005, Naxos. * Ernst Curtius, Naxos. ''Ein Vortrag im wissenschaftlichen Verein zu Berlin 1846 gehalten, neu herausgegeben von Martin Biastoch'', Göttingen, 2012.

External links

*
Moving Postcards Naxos

Municipality of Naxos and Small Cyclades

Photos from Naxos inclusive Tourist-Infos
{{Authority control Euboean colonies Greek city-states Islands of Greece Islands of the South Aegean Landforms of Naxos (regional unit) Members of the Delian League