27 Best Sights in The Cyclades, Greece

This is one of the most popular beaches on the island due to its close proximity to Naxos Town and its long stretch of pure, fine white sand. It features a small leeward harbor with a unique view of small lagoons where herons find refuge. Its position protects it from island winds, so swimming is a calm experience that you don't always find on neighboring beaches. The small village surrounding it is lined with tavernas and cafés. Nudity is allowed in designated areas. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: nudists; swimming; walking.

A bewildering maze of twisting cobblestone streets, arched porticoes, and towering doorways, the Old Town plunges you alternatively into cool darkness and then suddenly into pockets of dazzling sunshine. The Old Town is divided into the lower section, Bourgos, where the Greeks lived during Venetian times, and the upper part, called Kastro (castle), still inhabited by the Venetian Catholic nobility.

The unusual 13th-century "double church" of St. John exemplifies Venetian tolerance. On the left side is the Catholic chapel, on the right the Orthodox church, separated only by a double arch. A family lives in the tower, and the church is often open. From here, take a moment to gaze across the peaceful fields to Chora and imagine what the islanders must have felt when they saw pirate ships on the horizon.

A very small Archaeological Museum, established by a local mathematician, Michael Bardanis, displays Cycladic finds, including statues and earthen pots dug up from the east coast. The most important of the exhibits are unique dark gray marble plaques from the 3rd millennium BC with roughly hammered scenes of daily life: hunters, farmers, and sailors going about their business.

South of Naxos Town, Ayia Anna is a sandy-smooth extension of Ayios Prokopios Beach. A small port, with connections to Paros, it often has picturesque little boats docked here. At one point considered a main commercial harbor of the island, today it's a popular beach for water sports and those who want to enjoy the simplicity of its turquoise waters. The small village behind it is filled with restaurants, cafés, and beach bars. Beach chair and umbrella rentals are abundant. Amenities: food and drink; water sports. Best for: swimming; walking.

Essentially an extension of Naxos Town, the easily accessible Ayios Georgios Beach is a popular, developed destination that sees its throng of crowds during the peak summer months. Protected from summer winds, the sandy coastline edges up against shallow waters that make it ideal for kids. The bustle of the main town extends here; restaurants, tavernas, and café bars are all within easy walking distance with views of the sea. It's also an ideal beach scene to take in the sunset. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking.

St. Mamas is the protector of shepherds and is regarded as a patron saint in Naxos, Cyprus, and Asia Minor. Built in the 8th century, the stone church was the island's cathedral under the Byzantines. Though it was converted into a Catholic church in 1207, it was neglected under the Venetians and is now falling apart. You can also get to it from the Potamia villages.

The graceful Bellonia Tower (Pirgos Bellonia) belonged to the area's ruling Venetian family, and like other fortified houses, it was built as a refuge from pirates and as part of the island's alarm system. The towers were located strategically throughout the island; if there was an attack, a large fire would be lighted on the nearest tower's roof, setting off a chain reaction from tower to tower and alerting the islanders. Bellonia's thick stone walls, its Lion of St. Mark emblem, and flat roofs with zigzag chimneys are typical of these towers.

Built by Marco Sanudo, Venetian founder of the Duchy of the Aegean, in the 13th century, this grand cathedral was restored by Catholic families in the 16th and 17th centuries. The marble floor is paved with tombstones bearing the coats of arms of the noble families. Venetian wealth is evident in the many gold and silver icon frames. The icons reflect a mix of Byzantine and Western influences: the one of the Virgin Mary is unusual because it shows a Byzantine Virgin and Child in the presence of a bishop, a cathedral benefactor. Another 17th-century icon shows the Virgin of the Rosary surrounded by members of the Sommaripa family, whose house is nearby.

Located in the 800-year-old Dellarocca-Barozzi house, the Domus Venetian Museum lets you into one of the historic Venetian residences. The house, enclosed within the soaring walls of Chora's castle, adjacent to the "Traini," or Great Gate, was first erected in 1207. Inside, the house is like an Naxian attic filled with fascinating objects ranging from the Cycadic period to Victorian times. The house's idyllic garden, built into the Kastro wall, provides a regular venue in season for a concert series, from classical to jazz to island music, known as the Domus festival.

Chalki itself is a pretty town, known for its neoclassical houses in shades of pink, yellow, and gray, which are oddly juxtaposed with the plain but stately 17th-century Frangopoulos Tower. Like other towers erected by the Venetians on the island, it was primarily used in its heyday for defense purposes.

The Greek Orthodox cathedral was built in 1789 on the site of a church called Zoodochos Pigis (Life-giving Source). The cathedral was built from the materials of ancient temples: the solid granite pillars are said to be from the ruins of Delos. Amid the gold and the carved wood, there is a vividly colored iconostasis painted by a well-known iconographer of the Cretan school, Dimitrios Valvis, and the Gospel Book is believed to be a gift from Catherine the Great of Russia.

Although close to the popular beach destinations, Kastraki Beach has kept its tranquil, quiet, and low-key status in place. The long, sandy stretch of beach is essentially a continuation of Mikri Vigla but attracts those who prefer the experience of undeveloped and untouched Greek island beaches. Several designated areas are popular with nudists. Amenities: none. Best for: nudists; solitude; swimming; walking.

You won't miss the gates of the castle. The south gate is called the Paraporti (side gate), but it's more interesting to enter through the northern gate, or Trani (strong), via Apollonos Street. Note the vertical incision in the gate's marble column—it is the Venetian yard against which drapers measured the bolts of cloth they brought to the noblewomen. Step through the Trani into the citadel and enter another age, where sedate Venetian houses still stand around silent courtyards, their exteriors emblazoned with coats of arms and bedecked with flowers. Half are still owned by the original families; romantic Greeks and foreigners have bought up the rest.

The entire citadel was built in 1207 by Marco Sanudo, a Venetian who, three years after the fall of Constantinople, landed on Naxos as part of the Fourth Crusade. When in 1210 Venice refused to grant him independent status, Sanudo switched allegiance to the Latin emperor in Constantinople, becoming duke of the archipelago. Under the Byzantines, "archipelago" had meant "chief sea," but after Sanudo and his successors, it came to mean "group of islands," that is, the Cyclades. For three centuries Naxos was held by Venetian families, who resisted pirate attacks, introduced Roman Catholicism, and later rebuilt the castle in its present form. In 1564 Naxos came under Turkish rule but, even then, the Venetians ran the island, while the Turks only collected taxes. The rust-color Glezos tower was home to the last dukes; it displays the coat of arms: a pen and sword crossed under a crown.

Above the village of Sangri, you can make out the ruins of Kastro Apilarou, the castle vanquished by the Italian conquerer, Marco Sanudo. The castle was the defensive stronghold for the region and held out for two months, but locals today still say its a bit of a mystery about who the Apilarou family really was before Sanudo came and took over. If you do make the tough climb to view it up close, you'll be greeted with a fantastic view of the Naxian plains.

Built in the square in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral is a small museum that showcases the history of Naxos beginning with the Mycenean era. Displays include pottery, artifacts, and even a tomb from ancient times used to cover the graves of prosperous Naxians.

The pure white sand here is beautifully offset by a rocky hill, turquoise waters, and large, gentle sand dunes. The beach itself is edged by cedar trees. Here, the fierce island winds are welcome to kitesurfers and windsurfers; Flisvos Kite Centre offers equipment rentals and lessons. Not as developed as other beaches, a scattering of tavernas and cafés that mostly service sports aficionados can be found nearby. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: surfing; swimming; walking; windsurfing.

This little museum shows costumes, ceramics, farming implements, and other items from Naxos's far-flung villages, giving insight into how life was on the island beginning in the 18th century.

Just below Moni is one of Naxos's most important churches, Panagia Drosiani, which has faint, rare Byzantine frescoes from the 7th and 8th centuries. Its name means Our Lady of Refreshment, because once during a severe drought, when all the churches took their icons down to the sea to pray for rain, only the icon of this church got results. The fading frescoes are visible in layers: to the right when you enter are the oldest—one shows St. George the Dragon Slayer astride his horse, along with a small boy, an image one usually sees only in Cyprus and Crete. According to legend, the saint saved the child, who had fallen into a well, and there met and slew the giant dragon that had terrorized the town. Opposite him is St. Dimitrios, shown killing barbarians. The church is made up of three chapels—the middle one has a space for the faithful to worship at the altar rather than in the nave, as became common in later centuries. Next to that is a very small opening that housed a secret school during the revolution. It is open mornings and again after siesta; in deserted winter, ring the bell if it is not open.

With its distinct red-roof, this is one of the most important Byzantine churches. Restoration work has uncovered five layers of frescoes from the 6th through the 13th century, and the church has remained alive and functioning for 14 centuries. According to tradition it was named Protothroni because it was the first to be built on Naxos.

South of town, Plaka Beach is a natural extension of Ayia Anna Beach. It's a gorgeous two-and-a-half-mile stretch of sand filled with dunes and bamboo groves. Most of the beach is undeveloped, but you can still find sun beds to rent in organized areas. Come early to grab one in the peak season. There is a range of tavernas, restaurants, and café-bars within walking distance. At the southern end is Orkos, haven to wind- and kitesurfers. Amenities: food and drink; water sports. Best for: swimming; walking.

Although the capital town is primarily beloved for its Venetian elegance and picturesque blind alleys, Naxos's most famous landmark is ancient: the Portara, a massive doorway that leads to nowhere. The Portara stands on the islet of Palatia, which was once a hill (since antiquity the Mediterranean has risen quite a bit) and in the 3rd millennium BC was the acropolis for a nearby Cycladic settlement. The Portara, an entrance to an unfinished Temple of Apollo that faces exactly toward Delos, Apollo's birthplace, was begun about 530 BC by the tyrant Lygdamis, who said he would make Naxos's buildings the highest and most glorious in Greece. He was overthrown in 506 BC, and the temple was never completed; by the 5th and 6th centuries AD it had been converted into a church; and under Venetian and Turkish rule it was slowly dismembered, so the marble could be used to build the castle. The gate, built with four blocks of marble, each 16 feet long and weighing 20 tons, was so large it couldn't be demolished, so it remains today, along with the temple floor. Palatia itself has come to be associated with the tragic myth of Ariadne, princess of Crete.

Ariadne, daughter of Crete's King Minos, helped Theseus thread the labyrinth of Knossos and slay the monstrous Minotaur. In exchange, he promised to marry her. Sailing for Athens, the couple stopped in Naxos, where Theseus abandoned her. Jilted Ariadne's curse made Theseus forget to change the ship's sails from black to white, and so his grieving father Aegeus, believing his son dead, plunged into the Aegean. Seeing Ariadne's tears, smitten Dionysus descended in a leopard-drawn chariot to marry her, and set her bridal wreath, the Corona Borealis, in the sky, an eternal token of his love.

The myth inspired one of Titian's best-known paintings, as well as Strauss's opera Ariadne auf Naxos.

North of Palatia, underwater remains of Cycladic buildings are strewn along an area called Grotta. Here are a series of large worked stones, the remains of the waterfront quayside mole, and a few steps that locals say go to a tunnel leading to the islet of Palatia; these remains are Cycladic (before 2000 BC).

One of the island's quietest beaches is a stunning, wide cove of fine sand bordered by green cedar trees. Its name comes from a nearby hill that was used to scout for pirates back in the day. Today, its beauty remains untouched by development. Only a few tavernas and restaurants surround this corner of beach, which rarely gets crowded. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; swimming.

This marble Archaic temple, circa 530 BC, was lovingly restored by German archaeologists during the 1990s. Demeter was a grain goddess, and it's not hard to see what she is doing in this beautiful spot. There is also a small museum here (admission is free). The 25-minute walk here is splendid.

The name Sangri is a corruption of Sainte Croix, which is what the French called the town's 16th-century monastery of Timios Stavros. The town is actually three small villages spread across a plateau. During the Turkish occupation, the monastery served as an illegal school, where children met secretly to learn the Greek language and culture.

In the back of their quaint neoclassical house, the Vallindras family has supplied Naxos and Greece with kitro liqueur from their distillery since 1896. Before you take the free tour, sample various flavors and strengths of the Greek aperitif that is marked with a Protected Destination of Origin (PDO) status. In the distillery room, examine the more-than-100-year-old copper equipment, which continues to produce the island's strong, traditional aperitif.

Filoti is the starting place for several walks in the countryside, including the climb up to Zas Cave where obsidian tools and pottery fragments have been found. Mt. Zas, or Zeus, is one of the god's many reputed birthplaces; on the path to the summit lies a block of unworked marble that reads Oros Dios Milosiou, or "Boundary of the Temple of Zeus Melosios." (Melosios, it is thought, is a word that has to do with sheep.) The islanders say that under the Turks the cave was used as a chapel, and two stalagmites are called the Priest and the Priest's Wife, who are said to have been petrified by God to save them from arrest.