General Information

Naxos is the biggest island of Cyclades. It is an exceptionally fertile island, with long history breathtaking landscapes and a lot of sightseeing; all these attract a lot of tourists, all year round, but especially in summer. It has an extent of some 440 square kilometers and a coastline of approximately 150 kilometers.

Thanks to its fertile soil the island produces various goods and it is famous for the agricultural and livestock products, especially wine, meat and various kinds of cheese. The visitors of the island have many choices: wonderful lovely beaches, sightseeing of historical interest and a fascinating natural environment to wander in.

The history of Naxos goes back to early prehistory according to archaeological research the first traces of human settlements on the island is evidenced as early as in late 4th millennium b.C. Ever since, as archaeological finds and written sources show, human activity on Naxos is uninterrupted up to the present.


The scholars suggest that the first residents of Naxos were colonists of Thracian origin; it was them who introduced the worship of Dionysus, the god of wine on the island. Later on Naxos was occupied by Carians; their leader, called Naxos, named the island after him. Being one of the most important centers of the Cycladic civilization, Naxos continued to flourish in more recent periods of history as well. During the Archaic period the island, thanks to the high quality marble it produced, became the center of sculpture in the Aegean; it obtained considerable income and was counted among the most important commercial and marine powers of the period. Naxian sculptors were those who made the Kouroi, the statues of young men of the Archaic period and the Lions of the sacred island of Delos.


Later on, Naxos became an ally of Athens; during the Persian wars it suffered extensive damages by the Persians. After the system of the city-states declined, the island followed the destiny of the rest of Greece: it was successively conquered by the Macedonians, the Ptolemy’s dynasty and the Romans.

During the Byzantine period the island suffered considerable destruction by the pirates and by Saracen invaders. It is in this period that many coastal settlements were transferred to the mountainous inland, so that the people were protected by the attacks of pirates and of various would-be invaders.


After the Francs occupied Constantinopolis in 1204, the Venetian Marco Sanudo took Naxos and the neighboring islands and established the strong and famous Duchy of Paronaxia. Under the Venetian domination Naxos knew a long period of safety and prosperity; a lot of buildings were constructed on the island, mainly castles and strong houses which could protect the people. In 1537 the island was occupied by the Ottoman H. Barbarossa and –with the exception of a few years, in 1768, when it passed to the Russians – it remained under the Ottoman domination until the Greek Revolution of 1821.

The brave people of the island contributed much to the Revolution of 1821. When Greece became independent, Naxos was incorporated to the newly formed state. Ever since, its history is common with that of Greece. During the World War II, in the years 1941 – 1944, the island was occupied initially by the Italians and then by the Germans, who brought about several damages in reprisal to the strong resistance of the locals.


Today Naxos is a flourishing part of Greece with considerable agricultural and stock breeding production and well developed tourism. The island is a favorite destination both for Greek and foreign tourists.