Like the rest of Cyclades, the local and original Cycladic civilization developed in Naxos Island as early as 3,000 BC.

The island achieved the height of its power and wealth during the time of the tyrant Lydgamis in the second half of the 6th c. BC. It was then that construction began of the Archaic Ionic temple of Apollo, a rival to the large dioptral Ionic temples built at the same period by Peissistratos in Athens and Polykrates on Samos.

Naxos Town or Hora is the island's port and capital. It is a lively and cosmopolitan town, of Cycladic architecture with a maze of narrow streets and tiny passages.

Behind the waterfront an extensive, almost Medieval Old Quarter stretches up the hillside where Kastro (Castle) is. Walking around and in the Castle is a must while the views will take your breath.

There are many villages in the island, each with its own history and style. Villages that harmonically combine the majestic mountain beauty with the intensively cultivated agricultural plains and kilometers of sweeping golden sands.

There are also plenty of places to visit, museums, archaeological sites, byzantine monuments, venetian castles, picturesque churches.