Rising just over a thousand metres above the heart of Naxos, Mount Zas is the tallest summit in the Cyclades and one of the most rewarding places to explore on the island. It gathers together everything that makes Naxos special: ancient myth, dramatic limestone slopes, a legendary cave and a trail that ends with sweeping … Read more
Agios Prokopios is one of the most famous and best-loved beaches on Naxos, the largest island in the Cyclades. It stretches along the island’s sheltered west coast just a couple of kilometres south of Naxos Town, offering a long ribbon of fine golden sand backed by low dunes and a small holiday resort. The water … Read more
Naxos holds the longest, softest stretches of sand in the Cyclades, and its beaches are the main reason so a wealth of travellers return year after year. The whole south-west coast is one gentle ribbon of pale sand and clear, shallow water, sheltered enough for families yet open enough for windsurfers chasing the meltemi. From … Read more
The Portara of Naxos is the great marble doorway that greets every traveller sailing into the island’s harbour, standing alone against the sky on the little islet of Palatia. It is the surviving gateway of a temple that was never finished, and over the centuries it has become the emblem of Naxos itself, printed on … Read more
Naxos Town, known to locals as Chora, is the capital and main port of Naxos, the largest island in the Cyclades. It rises in tiers of whitewashed houses from a busy waterfront to a Venetian castle crowning the hill, so the whole town reads like a single amphitheatre facing the Aegean. The harbour is the … Read more
Mount Parnassus is the great limestone mountain that dominates central Greece, rising in pale, sculpted ridges above the Gulf of Corinth and the plain of Amfissa. To the ancient Greeks it was sacred ground, the mountain of Apollo and the Muses, and on its southern slopes stands Delphi, once believed to be the very centre … Read more
The village of Delphi is a small mountain town in central Greece, set on the steep slopes of Mount Parnassus a short walk from the famous archaeological site. Its two main streets follow the contour of the hillside, and from many of its balconies the land falls away in a sea of silver olive trees … Read more
The Sacred Way at Delphi is the winding paved path that carries you up through the sanctuary of Apollo, climbing from the entrance to the terrace of the great temple. It was the processional spine of the whole site, the route every pilgrim, envoy and festival procession followed on the way to the oracle. Along … Read more
The Charioteer of Delphi is one of the most complete and moving bronze statues to survive from the ancient Greek world. Known in Greek as the Heniochos, meaning the rein-holder, this life-size figure of a young chariot driver stands calm and upright, his long belted robe falling in fluted folds and his inlaid eyes still … Read more
The Pythian Games were one of the great pan-Hellenic festivals of the ancient Greek world, staged high on the slopes of Mount Parnassus at the sanctuary of Delphi in honour of the god Apollo. Held once every four years, they ranked second only to the Olympic Games in prestige, drawing athletes, musicians, poets and spectators … Read more