The village of Apeiranthos

The bus deposited us in a small square, in front of this church

and this ruined windmill.

Apeiranthos is considered the crown jewel of Naxos. Amphitheatrically built at the slopes of the mountain, it provides magnificent views of the Naxian mountain ranges. As the locals say, while at Apeiranthos, there is no way of telling that you are, in fact, on an island. The feeling one gets is more that of a northern mainland Greece village than that is a Cycladic island. This is partly due to its architecture and stone built houses but mainly due to its altitude - the centre of the village is located at approximately 600 m from sea level.

But, its most impressive feature is its architecture: stone built towers, old houses and churches, marble paved alleyways, traditional small souvenir and craft shops.

The village was built by Cretans in the 9th century with its inhabitants being a mixture of people from Crete and Asia Minor.

From the square we could see a windmill on the top of a nearby hill.

We started exploring

interesting houses

and a lot of steps.

This is the Traditional Women's Craft Collective

Selling items made on a handloom or embroideries

sheets, cushions, bags, tea towels, rugs

Every village should have one of those.

By the church gates a plaque

informing us that in Aperanthos, Manolis Glezos, one of our national heroes was born and raised before his family moved to Athens. He was a left-wing politician, journalist, author, best known for his participation in the WWII resistance, a true folk hero. He is best remembered for taking down the Nazi Flag from the Acropolis during the Axis occupation of Greece.

There is a portrait of Manolis Glezos, painted by Marina Pronotariou, found in the village gallery.

We continued on our way - this area is full of cafes. Note the marble paving stones

The steps are very steep in this village

It was lunchtime by now and the cafes and tavernas were full

From here we could see the road that leads to the village

We decided to have a look inside this shop

lured by these Minoan images displayed outside. This takes my breath away, it's so awesome, so beautiful, a real masterpiece

I saw a proper copy of this one in Santorini - you can see it here

Some nice ceramics inside

We left the shop  

another windmill on top of the hill, facing us

and a donkey in a field - the only donkey I saw this year.

We sometimes walked on the edge of the village, 

and could see the mountains all around

and sometimes down narrow alleyways

This shop looked interesting so we went inside to have a look

orange spoon sweets

citron alcoholic drinks

jams and chutneys

The 17th century tower of Zevgoli, built on a rock, now privately owned and in excellent condition

next to the tower, built on the rock, a tiny little white-washed church

from the steps that lead up to the church I could see down to the main square, which was buzzing with life

and then we moved on, the main street, full of cafes and tavernas

a lot of which had open terraces which overlooked the peaks and valleys of the mountains that surround the village.

everything white, including the marble paving stones

some grand old houses

We arrived at another large square

through the arches

it was great exploring the place, some parts so quiet, just us

and then groups of people, and some times buzzing

and always, through the narrow gaps there would be great views

and always, going up or going down

As I said in a previous post no two arches are the same

By now we had been walking down for quite a while because we wanted to visit the Visual Arts Museum. Apeiranthos has five museums: Geological, Natural History, Folklore, Archaeological. Amazing for a village. We didn't have time for all five, but quite fancied seeing some paintings.

The Old Plane Tree, Vasiliki Ladoukaki

Th. Michalolia

We then walked back to where we had started from, sat here and had a drink, waiting for the bus that would take us back to the Hora.