Makares – Holiday homes Azalas

Flora of the Makares-Islands

Written by astrid on 20. March 2026. Posted in News, Flora-of-Naxos, Makares, Nature.

Die Flora der Makares-Inseln Für die Makares-Inseln östlich von Naxos sind – nach dem “Atlas of the Aegean Flora” von Arne Strid – bislang etwa 150 Pflanzenarten verzeichnet: Im Vergleich zu Naxos mit seinen etwa 1000 Arten eine überschaubare Zahl! Dabei ist nicht nur interessant, was für Arten auf den Inseln vorkommen, sondern auch, welche Arten fehlen. Man kann jede der Inseln in einem Tag bequem begehen; so rückt ein vollständiges Erfassen der...

The wonderful Makares-Islands

Written by astrid on 28. February 2026. Posted in News, Geology, Makares, Hiking.

Every time I visit the Mákares Islands, I can’t stop wondering about this truly wonderful place. And that’s perhaps no surprise, because the nísói makáron of the ancient Greeks, the ‘Fortunate Isles’, were the place where the successful and happy heroes beloved by the gods resided after their death (the deceased were called makárioi, i.e. the “fortunate ones”, those freed from the hardships and torments of earthly life). According to another view,...

Storm petrels on the Makares islands

Written by astrid on 30. July 2025. Posted in News, Makares, Nature, Naxos, Animals, Birds.

The storm petrels are inconspicuous and little-known seabirds that even most ornithologists never get to see. I have never seen one and, until recently, did not even know that storm petrel also breed in the Aegean Sea. Now the European storm petrel can be added to the list of breeding birds of Naxos and the surrounding rocky islands. In this article I provide a few photos and a short report on the discovery of this species near Naxos by staff of the Greek organization NCC...

A visit to the shearwaters on the Makares islands

Written by astrid on 25. July 2025. Posted in News, Makares, Nature, Animals, Birds.

Two species of shearwaters breed in the Aegean Sea: the Yelkouan shearwater and Scopoli’s shearwater. They breed mainly on uninhabited rocky islands, often in small or large colonies. Both species are found on the Mákares islands east of Moutsoúna. Shearwaters, which are related to albatrosses, spend most of their lives on the oceans, where they fly continuously just above the water’s surface, taking advantage of the updrafts above the waves to hunt for small...

On the Makares-islands

Written by astrid on 28. November 2022. Posted in Azalas, Makares, Islands, Naxos, Area.

The islands of Makares right opposite from Azalas are the most amazing of all. Here the some pictures, without comments.

Snorkeling at the islands of Makares

Written by astrid on 28. November 2022. Posted in activities, Azalas, Makares, Naxos, Snorkeling and diving, Area.

Diesen Sommer sind wir einmal zu den Mákares-Inseln gefahren, wo wir wunderbar geschnorchelt haben. Hier ein paar Fotos: Mit den bizarren Felsen wirkt die Unterwasserlandschaft vielerorts sehr malerisch. Die Felsen sind von allerlei Algen bewachsen. Viele Algen sehen sehr hübsch aus! ein Seepapagei Eine kleine Seegras-“Insel”: Seegras-Wiesen sind die Kinderstube des Meeres und damit überaus wichtig für die Fischbestände; außerdem sind sie gigantische...

Sunset on the Makares-islands

Written by astrid on 23. September 2013. Posted in News, Makares, Naxos.

Sunset-Panorama on the Mákares-Islands… … on opposite side the moonrise

Eleonora's falcon

Written by astrid on 22. September 2013. Posted in The best articles, Makares, Nature, Animals, Birds.

One of the most beautiful and interesting bird species one may see in our area is Eleonora’s falcon. It is a mediterranean species with 90 % of its breeding population (over 10,000 breeding pairs) living in the Aegean; the rest is scattered throughout other regions of the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. Eleonora’s falcon breeds in colonies of usually a few dozen to a hundred pairs, mainly on small, uninhabited rocky islands. It is a migratory bird and...

Makares - uninhabited islands out of paradise

Written by astrid on 3. August 2009. Posted in activities, The best articles, Makares, Islands, Nature, Naxos, Animals, Area, Birds.

About seven kilometers off the east coast of Naxos, directly opposite Azalás, lies an uninhabited group of islands, the Mákares Islands. We see them every day, but it is something else to take a boat out on a windless day and actually go there: the islands seem to be left over pieces of paradise! the Mákares Islands; in the background on the left the inhabited island of Donoussa The Mákares group consists of three islands: the largest, called Ágios Nikólaos, is located in...