Delos and Naxos
This morning we started bright and early by visiting the centre of the Cycladic world, the island of Delos – an entire island of ruins where no one else but the archaeologists and guards live. Delos in mythology is the birthplace of the two glorious, eternally young twins, Apollo, the god of light and civilization, and Artemis, the huntress goddess. This “fact” was enough to make it the centre of an imaginary circle (cyclos) of islands, a group of islands in the south of the Aegean Sea called Cyclades.
We found this isolated wind-blown island empty and all to ourselves (until the large cruise ship’s noisy crowds arrived later from Mykonos) and enjoyed a nice travel in time, visiting the sanctuary and going 28 centuries back, when this became the place where the Greek Ionian islanders worshiped the twins. We saw the temples, the remains of a vast marble ancient statue of Apollo, the Lions’ Terrace and the Sacred Hoop-Lagoon where the twins were born. We also managed to see a few of the luxurious houses – with mosaics and atria – of the parvenu society of merchants and seafarers of thirty thousand people that developed around the sanctuary back in the 2nd century B.C. Quiet a few of our adventurous members made it up to the steep region of Mt. Cynthos and enjoyed glorious bird’s-eye views of the entire region!
During the warm afternoon we took refuge on the Sea Cloud, enjoying another delicious lunch and Greek siesta before tendering to the port area of Naxos, the Chora. Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades, with lots of farming and livestock, history and fantastic beaches. We had a walking tour up to the old Kastro (meaning castle), of the Chora, built by the Venetian overlords of the island eight centuries ago. We walked through the maze-like, narrow, whitewashed, sheltered-from-the-pirates alleys till we reached the top of the hill which is crowned by the 13th century Catholic Church.
And of course many of us stayed ashore to enjoy the shops, the gelato (!!), a beer or the local seafood and the nightlife in that lovely unspoiled island town, and last but not least, the chance to watch a fantastic sunset from Portara, the ancient marble portal landmark of the 6th century B.C. temple of Apollo.
