Join Thor and me as we explore more of the town’s labyrinthine lanes, including a Venetian tower.
NOTE: Since our recent trip to Greece to research more settings for my novel-in-progress, THE ARIADNE DISCONNECT, Thor and I knew we had to return to this magical region. My first entry in this new blog series posted here on Saturday, 10/20/2018. It gives an overview of our rambles from Athens to seven islands in the Dodecanese and Cyclades groups, ending our ferry-hopping pilgrimage on the anciently sacred island of Delos.
Our usual Greek island visits feature a lot of swimming in the luminous, deep-blue sea, but by the time we arrived on Naxos it was early October, windy and cool. (Perhaps still some after-effects of Cyclone Zorba?) After a Very frigid swim among the mysterious boulders of Mikra Vigla beach (somehow I lost those photos), we warmed up with more exploration of Naxos Town’s charming byways. A modern sculpture of the ancient sphinx watches over the harbor (above). The cobbled lanes’ twists and turns were designed, from ancient days, to thwart attackers by confusing them. It works!
Thor likes to envision a scenario in which marauding pirates encounter souvlaki tavernas and souvenir vendors in the narrow lanes, and exchange their weapons for cold beer and other goodies.
One thing we always find: a friendly cat eager for petting (and treats).
Heading for the high ground beside the archaeology museum (see previous posts), we located the Venetian Tower of Sanoudos built in 1207.
It could be the tower depicted in this marble carving we saw in the museum:
Entering the tower:
Inside:
Byzantine icons (I apologize for the quality of the second photo, taken through glass):
This well apparently tapped into the giant cistern beneath the castle/tower:
One of several carved marble embellishments from the structure:
And this fresco:
Some of the surrounding structures, like this passageway, are a hodgepodge of wooden pieces and plaster:
An old gateway opens to a view of the sea:
There always seems to be restoration work going on in Greek settlements– so many ancient structures to salvage. (Bag of concrete with rebar at lower right.)
The imposing church adjoining the tower/castle complex:
Wandering back through old town toward our hotel:
This kitten at the hotel wanted to adopt Thor:
We found a fabulous restaurant in the back streets, Nostimon Hellas, serving fresh fish, rabbit stew, ground lamb balls, wonderful salads, and much more.
We enjoyed a chat with Yiati, one of the owners, as she explained the restaurant’s mission to serve fresh, natural food that honored the Greek traditions while expanding horizons of flavor. You might notice that the mural behind her depicts the giant unfinished Dionysos “kouros” statue we visited in an earlier blog post.
She persuaded us to indulge after dinner in tarts with white chocolate mousse and kiwi fruit.
We raise a glass to the wonderful people and places in the Greek islands. “Chairete!” Rejoice!
Next week: “Siri” gets us lost in the mountainous interior of Naxos. I smugly find the way with my quaintly old-fashioned methods — paper maps and asking the locals….
*****
You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Cafe is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?” The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
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