With its domed Roman Catholic cathedral and medieval towers, the Kastro is all very atmospheric, especially when there are no tourists around. You can drive it from end to end in a couple of hours. Still, this is a relatively compact island, encompassing only 430 square kilometers-about the size of Barbados. Fertile soil and regular winter rains mean Naxians can grow more than enough vegetables and fruit to feed themselves, and their meats and cheeses are famous throughout Greece. Unlike the popular stereotype of a Greek island, Naxos is not arid and barren, though in high summer it can look pretty dry. The landscape is magnificent and its size means that you get it all: mountains (including Mount Zas, at 1,000 meters the island chain’s highest peak), green valleys, golden beaches, secluded ruins, and marble quarries that appear like futuristic cities. Naxos is the largest and arguably the most beautiful of the Cyclades, a group of some 220 islands in the southern Aegean Sea. Living alone on a remote Greek island might not be to everyone’s taste, but it suits me fine. I returned pretty much every summer after that and have now, to my almost-daily amazement, resided here full-time for 15 years. I first came to Naxos in 1985 to visit a friend who was house-sitting for an Englishwoman who lived in the Kastro area of Chora (other-wise known as Naxos Town), the island’s whitewashed seaside capital. Standing sentry at the entrance to Naxos’s harbor, the ancient marble gateway known as the Portara was built as the portal to a temple dedicated to Apollo.
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