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Castles and towers

The Venetian towers

Among the many remarkable sights on the island of Naxos are the Venetian fortified towers – evidence of a turbulent time. No other island in the Aegean has as many Venetian towers as Naxos. After t…

The Monastery of Fotodotis

1. October 2020

Near Danakós, not far from the pass to Apíranthos, lies a Byzantine fortified monastery dedicated to the Transfiguration of Christ (“Metamorphosis tou Sotiros Christou”) and called Fotodótis (“Give…

Fortresses and towers

Festungen und Wehrtürme In der Ägäis mit ihren zahlreichen Inseln hat sich schon sehr früh eine Schifffahrt entwickelt: Mittels Booten und Schiffen erreichten die Menschen die Inseln, standen in K…

The Venetian fortress Apano Kastro

13. November 2010

In addition to the Venetian castle in the Chóra of Naxos, there is a second Venetian fortress on the island: the Apáno Kástro near Tsikalarió. It is located on a steep hill between the valley of Po…

The Hellenistic tower of Chimarrou

20. October 2010

South of Filóti, on the road to Kalandós, one can visit an interesting ancient tower from the Hellenistic period (3rd century BC). It lies at 340 m altitude on the low hills southwest of mount Zeus…

The Venetian Castro in the Chora

The harbour town of Naxos, Chora, is crowned by the Venetian Castro, which covers a rather small area, but (according to the Naxos guide from Müller-Verlag) it is the only Venetian castle outside I…

Naxos under the Venetians

IIn 1204, during the 4th Crusade, the Franks and Venetians conquered Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, because the Emperor of Byzantium, who had called them to support him agains…

The Chora

Unfortunately there is yet no translation available for this page as well as for descriptions of the hiking tours you find under the links below. Maybe try to translate the page with Google transl…

The Byzantine fortress of Apalirou

10. November 2009

The most important Byzantine fortress of Naxos is located in the southwest of the island between the small village of Sangrí and the bay of Agiassós. The large castle complex occupies the top of th…

The Byzantine fortress on Mount Kalogeros

31. October 2009

Near Apóllonas on the northern tip of Naxos, the remains of a small Byzantine fortress lie on the 350 metre high mount Kalógeros. View of the Kalogeros from the harbour of Apollonas; the fortress …

The Early Bronze age acropolis at Panormos

Near the bay of Pánormos at the southeastern tip of Naxos lies on a low hill called Korfári ton Amygdalión (= hill of the almond trees) a small Bronze age acropolis (= fortress). It consists of abo…