Apeiranthos: A village on the Greek Island of Naxos that promises more than beaches. Photo / 123RF
Apeiranthos: A village on the Greek Island of Naxos that promises more than beaches. Photo / 123RF
In the middle of an island in the Aegean Sea, is a small town that – in a country otherwise well represented by its assemblages of antiquities – boasts five museums.
In many respects they are a boutique variety, but so is their host town - a charming village with just a smidgeon more than 1000 resident souls. This is Apeiranthos, also known in the curious way Greek names are translated into English as Apiranthos and Aperathos.
The island is Naxos, biggest of the gems that comprise the Cyclades islands, southeast of Athens. Apeiranthos has no sweeping beaches or snorkelling coves, and no real tourist crush, yet, 26km from the coast and more than 600 metres above sea level, it is almost unreservedly known as Naxos’s jewel in the crown.
It is not only a standout for its museums and impressive architectural features, but also has its own dialect, a tongue that locals believe goes back to the village’s establishment by the Cretans during the 10th century.
Dive into a Naxos village where every corner tells a tale. Photo / Alison Wallace
It has the added advantage of undoubtedly attractive neighbouring hill town in Halki (aka Chalki, Chalkio or Chalkion), among other captivating villages on the way, making an excursion to the centre of Naxos doubly worthwhile.
The bonus is that these attractions can be easily accessed by anyone using public buses, costing only a few euros each way from the main Naxos town of Chora, or hire-cars or quad bikes, or local tour guides.
Apeiranthos’ five museums cover the fields of archaeology, geology, natural history, fine arts, and folklore. They don’t stand out from other quaint buildings along the narrow streets and steps, and they may be rather more bijou than Athens’ Acropolis Museum or the Stavros Niarchos culture centre, but this clustered collection of treasure troves are very much worth exploring.
If you want antiquity, start with the archaeological museum, where you will find Cycladic clay vases dating back to 3000 BC, or marble-footed jars from the early Cycladic period, circa 3000 to 2700 BC. For diversity there are hammered rock carvings from east Naxos dated at 2700 BC, and if you want your history to be a little more modern there is a tripod vase from the geometric art period; circa 800 BC.
Rock carvings circa 2700BC, on display in a museum in Naxos, Greece. Photo / Alison Wallace
The geological museum has a collection of more than 2000 rare exhibits. Notable among them are different types of Greek marble, including of course the valuable and distinctive large-crystalled Naxian marbles, still being mined.
The museum of natural history, naturally, has a wide array of the area’s flora and fauna, much of it reflecting the fertile growing fields threaded among the hilltops.
The folklore museum offers an insight into the way of life in the village through the ages with restored items ranging from clothing to cookery and toys to tools.
The visual arts museum, on the main road at the entrance to the village is more gallery than historical font but nonetheless provides an interesting display of paintings, engravings and sculptures by local artists.
Just rambling through Apeiranthos feels like a historical experience in itself. The narrow, marble-paved mule tracks and archways, the tiny squares and the architectural design of the two-storeyed stone houses, appear almost untouched from the days when Naxos was part of the Venetian Empire.
Venetian towers and Byzantine churches proliferate on the inland trail of traditional villages along the way and at Apeiranthos. So do the lush valleys and plains that set Naxos aside as virtually self-sufficient in food and drink.
Less than 10km from Chora on the way to Halki and Apeiranthos is the home of one of those products, an olive press museum in the village of Eggares. You’ll be lucky if you don’t walk away with some variation of the many olive-based temptations (my favourite was the sweet dessert olives).
In a nearby farming village, Galini, if you are on a guided visit you can enjoy the challenge of producing your own Greek lunch at a cooking school – the standard fare being stuffed tomatoes, bell peppers and aubergines with spicy meatballs and a classic Greek salad. The lesson includes a visit to a nearby farm that grows an amazing range of produce.
This includes some of Naxos’s traditional kitron trees, although the place to get a taste of this unusual fruit that looks like a large and lumpy lemon is further along the road to Apeiranthos in the main square of Halki. There you will find the Vallindras Distillery, producers of kitron liqueurs.
At the Archaeological Museum of Apeiranthos, these Cycladic clay bases date back to the 3rd millennium BC. Photo / Alison Wallace
The raw material for the liqueur is actually the leaves of the kitron, and the end product comes in three colours and strengths, which can be tasted at the distillery. Yellow has no sugar in the process and is the strongest. Green is sweeter and has lower alcohol. And white, or clear, is in between with only a little sugar – this Goldilocks version is the one preferred by Naxians. For further education, there is a cafe nearby down a side street that specialises in kitron-based cocktails.
Yes, complete with an 11th Century church a pleasant 15-minute walk away through orchards and olive groves, Halki is deservedly rated a beautiful village. But Apeiranthos gets the nod when, like an archaeologist, you start digging deeper.
Checklist
NAXOS
GETTING THERE
Emirates flies from Auckland to Athens, via Dubai. emirates.com
Connections from Athens to Naxos are available with a number of airlines.
