Location

Saint George (Agios Georgios) is Naxos Town beach. Sandy and very long (1 km) is the first choice for swimming and spend a day on it. It offers all kind of entertainment such as beach restaurants, beach bars and clubs, water sport facilities.

Naxos Town or Hora is the islands port and capital. It is a lively town, of Cycladic architecture with a maze of narrow streets and tiny passages and makes an excellent resort. Behind the waterfront an extensive, almost Medieval Old Quarter stretches up the hillside where Kastro (Castle) is. Walking around and in the Castle is a must while the views are exceptional.

The Castle of Chora was built by the Venetian Marco Sanudos, who had occupied with his companions 17 Aegean islands. He was then declared duke and established Naxos as the seat of his duchy. The hill next to the port of Naxos forms a natural citadel. That is why he chose to build the seat of the duchy there. For the best security of the city, he used many materials that were already at that point as they had been destroyed by previous pirate raids. A special feature of the castle is that its wall consists partly of masonry of the houses located on the perimeter of the area. The settlement of the castle was not only a place of residence of the Venetians but an administrative, educational and religious center.
 In the center of the castle district is the square dominated by the Catholic Metropolis. The ruins of the central tower, according to tradition, constituted the palace of Mark Sanoudos.

Naxos’ Temple of Apollo - Portara, a huge marble gate and the single remaining part of an unfinished temple of Apollo of 530 BC, is the island’s emblem and main landmark.
Standing on the islet of Palatia, at the entrance to Naxos harbor, it comprises four marble parts weighing about 20 tons each.
Its construction was initiated by the tyrant Lygdamis in the 6th century BC, according to the specifications of the temples of Olympic Zeus in Athens and of the goddess Hera on Samos.
It measured 59m in length and 28m in width, and its entrance was on the western side of Naxos -an unusual feature for an Ionian-style temple.
The monumental gate seen today, which led from the vestibule to the main part of the temple, lies amidst traces of its foundations and those of a peripheral colonnade that was never completed.
An arched Christian church was built on the ruins in the 6th or 7th century.
The islet of Palatia has been associated with the worship of Ariadne — a Cretan princess — and Dionysus, the god of wine and merriment.
Because, according to mythology, Dionysus abducted the princess at the beachside of Palatia, the islet is considered the place where Dionysian festivities were first held.
Naxos’ Temple of Apollo - Portara today is connected with the Naxos mainland via a paved footpath.
The spot offers one of the most enchanting sunsets in Greece.

The most impressive sight in the ancient quarry of Apollonas on Naxos is a huge, half-finished statue, known as the Kouros of the god Apollo.
The statue, lying in supine position and longer than 10m, dates to the 6th century BC and archaeologists differ on whether it represents Apollo or the god Dionysus.
The fact that construction of the giant temple of Apollo at Portara, the position overlooking the present-day port of Naxos, is considered to have started in the same period as the date of the statue, has raised questions whether the Kouros was somehow linked with the temple.
The statue was never finished, but it is unclear whether this was because it broke and a repair was impossible, or because its completion was cancelled, or because it was never paid for.