10th September - Around Naxos in a day

 We woke today at 5am to the alarm. It was dark outside as we got ready and quietly made our way outside to where we had parked the car. We passed a guy sitting on a step having a cigarette and a glass of beer! I set up my phone to link to the car’s display for google maps as we had worked out our route the night before. We set off still in the dark towards our first stop - hike up Mount Zas (Mt Zeus). We had two options to hike the mountain, the hard way via Zeus’s cave or the less hard way from St Marina’s church. We chose the hard way of course.

Me next to the car I drove all day

Aria Spring(I filled my water bottle as we passed on our way down)

Not sure what proper equipment we were supposed to have. I hiked up in my hiking sandals but had sneakers to wear on the way down.

Sunrise over Mt Zeus

David before the steep ascent 

Entrance to Zeus’s cave

It took us the 20 minutes advised to hike up to the cave. I had brought my bike head lamp from home as I knew we would be doing this hike and would need it to enter the cave.

After the cave the hike turned into a scramble/climb as it was so steep in places we had to use our hand and feet. We followed red paint blobs marked on boulders and stones so it was easy to follow the route. There were a few places with loose stones and also slippery smooth rocks. We passed many goats on the way up and they mostly ran away from us. The clouds were starting to roll in as we made our way to the summit, we were starting to get Jungfraujoch vibes so hurried the last 100m. (In 1992 we caught the cog railway to the top of the Jungfraujoch to see the view and it was a total white out!)

We were lucky that the clouds evaporated soon after forming but it made a great spectacle.

We made it to the highest point in the Cyclades

Clouds are starting to form behind us!

Amazing watching the clouds roll over the mountain top and disappear

Yay, I’m on top of the world, no clouds.

We stopped to eat some peanut butter sandwiches before starting our descent. It was a very difficult descent, maybe more so than the ascent. The ascent was hard cardio wise but the descent was hard on the knees and because of the loose and slippery flat rocks. We also passed a goat who refused to move off the middle of the path even when I accidentally touched it with my foot as I passed by.

Loose very steep rocks, hard to see in the photo!

Very relaxed goat

Our next stop was at Apeiranthos where we stopped to look at the village that reminded us of the old town in Naxos, with it’s old Venetian mansions. We had hot chocolate/Greek Coffee at a restaurant overlooking the valley. I had wanted a Freddo Cappuccino but we chose the one place that had a broken espresso machine!

We then drove North for around an hour on twisting winding roads, luckily I was driving as I am sure I would have been sick if I had not. Our destination was Apollonas Kouros. Kouros’ are Ancient Greek sculptures and the ones on Naxos are unfinished. Look at the size of it compared to me!

Catriona and Apollonas Kouros

Google maps took us right down to the harbours edge of Apollonas and up some very tiny, steep two way streets that only fit one vehicle at a time. Eventually we got back on the main road and headed to Eggares and the Olive oil museum where we had an olive oil tasting and a lovely lunch.

Oil press that took 3 men to turn

Millstone to crush olives

Very small olives used for oil production

Feeling satiated we set off for the Sanctuary of the Source - Flerio, Flerio Melanie’s Kouros and Faragi Kouros which were all located very close to each other. The day was starting to heat up and it was around 2pm so we didn’t spend long at the Sancutuary which was a site for the worship of the female deity of fertility of the earth from 800 BC. There were also horizontal bee hives from the beginning of the 20th century in clay pots. The Flerio Melanes Kouros was in the shade and difficult to capture in a photo. The Farangi was much easier to photograph and you can see the size of the feet next to David.

Part of the sanctuary

Bee hive in clay pots

David next to feet of Kouros

Farangi Kouros

A short drive brought us to the oldest Christian church in Naxos, Panania Drosiani which is a Byzantine church built in the late 6th century BCE. It is of important historical significance and has many rare paintings.

Rear of Panania Drosiani

Our next and last stop was supposed to be the Sanctuary of Demeter but once we arrived we found it was closed on Tuesdays.😞 As we still had plenty of time left we decided to visit the abandoned hotel where construction began in 1960’s. It was supposed to have over 1000 rooms but court rulings made them stop construction. It is now a canvas for graffiti artists.

We ended up handing the car back in early at 6pm as we were so tired and I didn’t want to drive any more, we well and truely saw Naxos in 1 day.