The Naxos mountain town of Filoti is described as an ampitheatre. [8498]
At 430km2 Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades group of islands, and we heard, is the most self-sufficient of all of them, being capable of farming. We saw some evidence of this, lots of hay, sheep, goats, hectares of olive groves etc. Even in Neolithic times, Naxos was an economic powerhouse as a reknowned source of emery, a carborundum rock, which, until modern alternatives became available, was one of the best abrasives available. Small emery mines still operate.
Naturally, Naxos has comes packaged with piles of ancient mythology. Naxos features in Greek mythology, being the island where Zeus, the god in charge of all gods with particular responsibility for sky and thunder, was raised, although he was not born here. He was brought up in a cave on Mt. Zas in Naxos' highlands. At 741m, Zas is the highest peak in the Cyclades. In other myths, Ariadne, abducted by the god Theseus from Crete after he had killed the Minotaur, stayed on Naxos and married the god Dionysus, and her worship as a goddess flourished for centuries on the island.
We rented a tiny cabriolet Citroen C3, a basic vehicle with no bells and whistles, but it allowed us to drive into the mountain villages that we had heard about. The rental-car company, MotoPower, was based just 100m down the street from our hotel. The car was a bit of a heap, a hatchback with lots of nicks and scratches that had obviously had a hard life. It seemed to have run out of puff, and in one tiny town that we drove through with very steep pinches, it barely made it. It was an automatic, a blessing, and claimed to be air-conditioned but that facility was 90% ineffective. We dared not open the roof. But such a little car was ideal for the tight corners it had to negotiate and the tight parking spaces which were all we could find. When we picked it up, it was only a quarter full, but the rental-car guy just shrugged, and told us to put EUR10's worth of petrol into it, which we did at the start of our driving, before we left town. He also advised us not to park in the mountain towns (or we'll get a "ticket") but to use "parking paddocks" just out of town. These paddocks proved to be rough and dusty vacant lots that were invariably full.
MotoPower, where our rental Citroen came from. [5710]
Our unexciting Citroen awaits us in the dusty parking lot of Filoti. [8521]
For our one-day drive, we just focussed on the mountain towns of Chalki, Filoti and Apeiranthos. These were all close together, only about 20-30km out of Prokopios, and because we take our time in each town, and have to rest at a cafe for a breather in the stifling conditions, that was basically all we did in the day of our rental. The very helpful receptionist, Maria, at the Eighteen Grapes Hotel advised us on the best route to take. Her advice was good, but we still got it wrong.
Our first town was Chalki. We said we would prefer not to drive there on the main road from Chora, but to take lesser, more direct, roads. Maria warned us not to go into the towns of Arsenio or Tripodes, but we strayed into one of them (the latter, we think) by accident, because the roads were not well signposted, and that was an experience in itself. The town was a maze of lanes barely the width of the car, tight blind corners, and steep pinches, and our hapless Citroen struggled a lot. Even with a good map from the rental car company, we would never have made it without Google Maps on our phone. (It turns out that we could have used public buses to get to all of these towns!)
Groves of olive trees seem to completely surround Chalki. [8484]
Chalki (pop 475, height 600m), like Chora, is pronounced without the "C" and often spelled that way too. Halki is possibly the official Greek name anyway. Chalki is the old capital of Naxos, from the 9th to the 19th century, and is steeped with history. It's in the Tragaia valley of Naxos, and its name is possibly derived from the Greek word "chalkos," meaning copper which was mined there? Chalki's outskirts were mostly olive groves, and were riddled with meandering stone fenced pathways that stretch their way well out of downtown and found their way to several Byzantine churches. It was hot - we didn't explore far and didn't find many of the churches but we did enjoy a cool drink in a tree-shaded central square with several cafes. The town centre itself was picturesque, like all Greek villages, with pink-coloured Venetian architecture and marble sculptures, and catered well to visitors with arts and crafts shops as well as cafes.
Mottled shade protects us, and many others, in Chalki's town square. [8458]
Al-fresco spit at a cafe in Chalko. A bit early for lunch, but it sure smelled good! [8456]
Window into an old ruin in one of th narrow alleys in Chaiko, Naxos. [8463]
The walks out of Chalki were along walled alleys like this. [8468]
Butterfly obligingly posing for us, not! [8476]
Free roaming sheep in Chalki scurry for cover at the sight of strangers. [8482]
On the same twisty, mountainous road, the next main village was Filoti (pop 1800, height 400m). It's the largest on Naxos. The town is built like an amphitheatre in the foothills of Mt. Zas but we didn't see Zeus' childhood cave. (Apparently it can be seen and entered by serious hikers,. the precise GPS being available.) We're actually not sure which peak was Mt. Zas. The town's main square, Gefyra, was beside the "main" road, and was full of kafeneio (cafes), one of which had been recommended to us by Maria for pizza, so that's what and where lunch was, under the welcome shade of a huge plane tree. House construction was typical flat-roofed whitewashed masonry, but to us the architectural highlight was Panagia Filotitissa (Virgin Mary of Filoti), dating back to the 1700's. To get to the church required puffing up 50 or more steep steps, but we were rewarded with a beautiful multi-bell tower construction with intricate detailing. Outside the church was the Ecclesiastic and Folklore Museum of Filoti.
Filoti's three main districts can be seen in this panorama. Olive trees in the foreground, Mt Zas on the right? Zas cave is where the oldest traces of humanity on Naxos were found, 10,000 years ago. Zeus' playthings maybe?[8488]
Creative treatment of an old doorway in Filoti. The notices are protesting an increase in water prices. [8501]
It was easy to find the recommended cafe in Filoti town square. [8502]
The plane tree, a breed cursed by many Sydney-siders, which shades all of the town square in Filoti. [8505]
Proof we had a pizza for lunch in Filoti. [1937]
Fresh produce laid out so neatly in a Filoti store. [8506]
Festooned with lights, the Church of Panagia Filotitissa is most imposing, and there is an ecclesiastical and fokelore museum in its forecourt. [8511]
Exquisite candelabra / chandelierlights up Filoti church without even being illuminated. [8515]
Whitewashed alleyway in Foloti. [8513]
House entrance in Filoti. [8516]
Not sure if this is Mt. Zas, but it is an impressive looking peak, as seen from the streets of Filoti. [8519]
So hot was it that we almost quit after these two towns, but instead we pushed on to the third, Apeiranthos (pop 750, height 650m). It was worth it. Apeiranthos was the prettiest of them all, and would be worth a stay of much longer than we gave it. Another mountain town, clinging precariously to the side of a very steep hill, the town's main street was a long pedestrian pathway which we explored only part of the way. A walking map sign suggested that there was a lot of exploring to do in this town. Apeiranthos may be named after Perinthos in Turkey from where Ottoman refugees fled in the early 1800's, but there is also a lot of Cretian blood in the residents. Someone said that the locals have a Cretian temprament and accent, but of course that was invisible to us. The town is renowned as the birthplace of WW2 Greek hero Manolis Glezos who famously tore down the Nazi flag from the Acropolis during the occupation as an act of resistance.
Nice mountain scenery, churches everywhere, but no chance of snow, on the road between Filoti and Apeiranthos. [8524]
Another town clinging to the slopes of a steep hill, Apeiranthos, was our favourite of today's visits. Wind turbines on a distant ridge. [8527]
The streets of Apeiranthos are paved with marble. No wonder the locals are so fit well into old-age. [8531]
Expensive looking souvenirs evocative of past copper mining days in Apeiranthos. [8533]
Pottery for sale and a cafe with a view, from Apeiranthos. [8541]
We heard that Apeiranthos is known as the "marble village" - its pathways are paved with marble and its houses are built of it. This town was once reliant on emery mining from the nearby Mt. Amomaxis, and mining from small allotments in its foothills still takes place. Aparently, there are ruins of a 1920's cable railway used to transport emery, but we didn't go looking for them. Apeiranthos has many museums, none of which we visited, but we did walk much of that marble paved main street, and patronised a cafe with a fabulous view over the valley for yet another breather, not to mention the orange juice and ice cream. A derelict windmill, Frantzeskos lies in ruins lies above the village, so does a dilapidated Venetian tower named Zevgolis Tower, and we are not sure what we were looking at.
Quiet square in Apeiranthos, marble everywhere. [8542]
Quiet corner in a shady cafe in Apeiranthos, the wall behind showing historical archways. [8546]
This very noisy donkey in Apeiranthos was very annoyed at something, or maybe just calling for a feed. [8548]
Dilapidated Tower of Zevgoli (we think) stands above Apeiranthos in Naxos. [8529]
We didn't do any of these pretty towns justice. It was just too hot, and we are pretty old. They all deserve much more time, but our favourite was Apeiranthos. Driving home in the late afternoon, we followed the much easier to navigate main road back towards Chora and then skirting it to get to Ag. Prokopios where we returned our crummy little Citroen by, as instructed, leaving it unlocked in the hotel carpark with the keys on the floor. It was gone the next day! Our total journey was 60km, so EUR10 was probably more than we needed to spend on petrol!
Thanks to Google, our driving route. Doesn't the outline of Naxos remind you of the shape of Western Australia, only 1000 times smaller?
The Lightroom Photo-Map below shows the locations for pics in this blog. All are the centre of Naxos island, and the scale indicates that they can all be contained in the area of a 2km radius circle even though the drive from one to another was up to 10km, such are mountain roads.
Naxos was a delight, and although we spent almost a week here, it was not enough, partly due to stifling heat and the relaxed pace we adopt. We never feel the need to tick boxes, we prer quality to quantity in both food and sightseeing. The beach at Prokopios was splendid, but there are many others that we did not even see. Each of those three villages we visited could have done with a full day or more, there is so much history to look at - lots of museums and churches and historical sites we completely ignored. The Eighteen Grapes would be an ideal base for any extended stay on Naxos, because the island is small enough to allow day trips from Prokopios to anywhere. Google Maps' clever Travel Time tool shows that anywhere can be reached in not much more than an hour.
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