Naxos

Naxos town

On 15^th September we left Paros and set off towards the neighbouring island of Naxos. Once we were outside the bay we tried to raise the sail but the halyard jammed with the mainsail half up.  After some jiggling we eventually managed to pull the sail down again, but we were concerned, as it was the second time this had happened and there was no obvious cause for the jamming. 

A couple of hours later we were tied up in Naxos harbour and had called in a rigger to help us. The news wasn’t good, inside the top of the mast there is a plastic ‘divider’ which stops the different halyards becoming tangled. The plastic has split with age and the main halyard has tangled with the topping lift.  The long term solution is to replace the plastic divider, but to do this we will need to have the mast stepped (taken down) so it will have to wait until Sandpiper is hauled out of the water for the winter. Meanwhile, the rigger untangled our lines and told us to try and keep the lines tight to avoid the problem recurring.

The Portara

Our mooring gave us a great view of Naxos old town, which is a jumble of Cycladean and Venetian buildings, as Venetians ruled the island between the 13^th and 16^th centuries.  Beyond it we could see the little island of Palatia and the marble Portara (all that remains of a 6^th century BC temple to Apollo) which features in every postcard of Naxos.  After the rigger left we walked out on the causeway to the island then back into the town, where we managed to get completely lost in the maze of narrow streets.

Playing the tsabouna

The next evening we walked up to the Venetian castle for an open air concert of local music and dancing. It was run by a folk music society and each act was introduced with a talk about the origins of the instruments and the different dances.  It was interesting to see how similar musical instruments have developed across Europe – our favourite performance was from a man playing the tsabouna, a form of bagpipe made from goatskin, with pipes made from horns.  We also had the chance to sample a range of local ‘home brewed’ wines and spirits, which Cliff particularly enjoyed!

Timewarp - window of a village store

Naxos is a big island with lots to see, so we decided to hire a car.  We really enjoyed our two days exploring the island, it's a fascinating mix of remote inland villages which don’t appeared to have changed much in the last century and modern resorts nearer to Naxos town which have white sand beaches to die for.



Venetian fortified mansion beside Greek church at the mountain village of Apiranthos



One of our highlights was seeing the ‘Kouroi’, huge, ancient, unfinished marble sculptures lying on the hillsides where they were originally carved.  Naxos is famous for its marble, which is still mined there today. In the 7th and 6th Centuries BC the island exported sculptures to other parts of Greece, famous examples include the sphinx at Delphi and the lions of Delos.  Sometimes a sculpture would be almost complete when a flaw was found on it so it would be rejected and remain near where it was being worked on and these are the ‘Kouroi’ that can still be seen today.



The Kouros at Flerio...

 

...and its feet!

The Kouros at Apollon, which is over 10 metres long