Wednesday, May 9
Beth goes to the bakery this morning and brings back a ham & cheese pie and coffee, which we enjoy on our little patio. Another beautiful morning!
Today we have scheduled a tour with a young Frenchman, Nicholas Lagiere, who lives here on the island. He comes to pick us up at 9:00 in his little Fiat which he parks a few blocks away. He will take us into the interior of the island for a different look!
It doesn't take long to leave the city behind and climb into the mountains.
There are some wildflowers, but he says they have been having a real drought and everything is earlier, so that most of the orchids and other flowers have finished blooming already. Still some poppies, chrysanthemums, and others, with occasional bursts.
Naxos, according to Nicholas, is a fairly wealthy island comparatively. This is for several reasons - 1st, although they were ruled by the Turks, they were never occupied by them. When the Turks left Greece, they returned the property they had to the Greek government. Since they hadn't occupied Naxos, the original owners of property here were able to maintain ownership, so that many families here have quite a bit of property which they use or rent. Secondly, Naxos is largely self-sufficient. They have a couple of rivers and quite a lot of agriculture. They are especially known for potatoes and cheeses. There are some dairy cattle along with sheep and goats. Tourism is growing and also contributes to their jobs and economy.
We pass a one vehicle accident and Nicholas says many Greeks here are terrible drivers and nearly 40% drive without a license or insurance. The police pretty much stay in the port area and are very corrupt. We pass some vineyards and Nicholas says the French have tried to help with grapes, but he considers the wine produced here not very good - but improving. Most families make their own. There are many olive trees as well and there are terraces for farming in the mountains.
We see a few old windmills, which used to be used in crushing olives or grinding grain. They are mainly decorative today.
There are quite a lot of solar panels and some wind turbines as well.
The island's permanent population is about 20,000 people. He said foreigners are not readily accepted, especially if they leave during the cold, windy winters. He stays year round and does tours March through November, sometimes 2 a day. I heard about him on a TripAdvisor forum about Naxos and that is where he gets most of his business.
Our first stop is a short hike to the Temple of Demeter (Goddess of Agriculture/Farmers)which was built around the 6th Century BC. The path is lined with bay plants,
rosemary and something called isope
which is a kind of cross between rosemary and thyme. Nicholas knows his plants and credits his grandfather.
The temple was built from Naxion marble and is a full century older than Athen's Parthenon. Builders here deliberately made changes in lines to compensate for our eye's sense of proportion so that there are small variations to "trick" the eye and make it appear uniform. This temple was square rather than the typical rectangular shape.
Here you can see 3 generations of stonework - The darkest original stone from 6th century BC, Roman additions or restoration from about 6 AD, and the brightest marble from a restoration done in 2000.
This small byzantine chapel used to be inside the original temple.
The Greek people pretty much ignore the antiquities in their midst, and in some cases consider them a nuisance. When someone wants to build, for example, they have to have officials come and check the area to a depth of one meter. If antiquities are found, building can not go on until excavation is done and with lack of funds, that can take years. So when locals discover items, they either destroy evidence of its existence, sell things on the thriving black market, or discretely leave items in a church in the middle of the night.
We see herds of goats now and then and trucks carrying sheep and chickens. Nicholas says they begin grazing goats in the valleys in the Spring and as the weather heats up, they move further up the mountains for cooler ground. Sometimes they hobble them by tying two legs together to keep them from jumping and climbing too far.
There are not many wild animals on the island. A few reptiles - we see lizards darting among the brush
- a few snakes, including a rare but benign constrictor, rabbits, and a few turtles - especially along the coast- and quite a few birds. Nicholas is involved in attempting to establish some conservation efforts on the island but says it is frustrating because some of the locals kill things for sport and have no sense for preservation or maintaining. Consequently some turtles, birds and snakes are endangered.
We stop to look at Bazeostoler tower, one of 30-40 venetian towers of the island.
These were built as homes for a Venetian family, but also as lookouts and protection to area farmers during pirate raids. Because of its central location in the Mediterranean, Naxos apparently had quite a lot of raids.
Our next stop is at a small farmhouse, where Nicholas picks up a key to the family church. Because of the isolation of many of these private churches, religious artifacts were being stolen regularly, leading most churches to be locked. We walk through a few fields lined with stone walls - stone walls are everywhere - to a small "double" church shared by two families, built in 1270 AD.
Wow! Many of the original frescoes are still visible and quite colorful. Probably painted by monks, they depict St. George, John the Baptist, Christ and some bishops of the church.
It is a rare depiction of St. George (on the right) which shows him as a standing soldier rather than on his horse killing a dragon. There is an even older icon on a slate-like piece of rock - probably from the 11th century - showing that more familiar stance but it is difficult to see.
There are some stone tablets and pieces of columns as well - probably found in the area - one of which is Italian marble from Roman times. Quite amazing! ( Nicholas has his masters in Psychology and has also studied archeology and pre-Columbian art and has friends here in Naxos who are in the field, so seems quite knowledgeable.)
The family comes daily to pray here. You can see how the fresco layer was applied to the walls. It is salt in the air and the soil that causes crystallization and flaking, making removal of frescoes very painstaking and time consuming. There are a few cypress trees nearby and Nicholas says they were once planted to mark gravesites.
These showy flowers are called Acanthe.
From here we go to a village called Halkio where we walk amid olive, plane & oak trees to another Church of St. George, built in the 11th century.
Unfortunately it is only opened in June and July. This town was once a capital, so this church is rather large with nice frescoes inside. The frescoes are often touched and kissed by the faithful, so parts are all but eradicated and someone also removed the eyes from many of them to keep as a symbolic protection against evil. Throughout Greece we've seen jewelry, paintings, etc. which show an eye and people carry depictions or place them in their homes or cars as protection from evil, or for good luck. (Dimitri had one on our bus and Emmie had a keychain.)
We walk past many very old olive trees, probably hundreds of years.
This village is in a valley, so is more green than most. There are some huge eucalyptus trees on the main road which were brought from Australia. In town we walk by a church which has had continuous daily service for over 1,000 years - and counting!
This Balkan lizard is about 9" long.
There are a several shops here and we take a look in a few, and then stop at a distillery where they make a liquor called kitron. It is made from the leaves of a citrus tree which bears inedible fruits and is unique to Naxos. We sample some and it is strong and sweet.
We leave the valley for mountains and the village of Apiranthos. Located near a marble quarry, nearly everything here is made of marble including stairs, walking paths, buildings and walls.
There is a marble quarry in the middle ground of this photo.
They used to bury people under the marble stones and we see some that are engraved with names or symbols.
We see a woman in black and Nicholas says that here, once a woman marries she wears black. Black absorbs heat, so most women stay indoors when the weather gets hot. About 50% of the people in this village are originally from Crete.
We stop for lunch at a restaurant with a nice view and try a Greek salad with the local cheese rather than Feta. There must have been nearly a pound of the soft cheese on the salad! (We prefer feta.)
At lunch Nicholas talks a little about what brought him here. He and some friends were present at the nightclub shooting in Paris about two years ago. He lost one friend and seems quite traumatized by the event. It most likely spurred his departure from France ("it's not safe") and he decided to come here where he had spent some time and knew a few folks. He has a very negative attitude about France and the French people (will not accept French tourists on his tour!).
We chat about various aspects of Greek life on the ride back to town. Their education system, he says, is poor. Public school is only 9 AM till about 1:00 PM. Teachers are poorly paid and most give private lessons outside of those hours. Anyone who wants to go to University has to have this extra tutoring or go overseas, but not many do.
Greek people, while friendly, are not very hospitable, he says. They never invite you to their homes for dinner. Most of the people he meets are not interested in going anywhere, say another island or even a different beach, but are content to stay in their town. Nicholas has traveled quite a bit - South America, Europe, the US and more and says he isn't sure how long he will stay here in Naxos.
Back to our room and we talk with Nicos to arrange our ride to the airport tomorrow morning. A few minutes later he knocked at our door and delivered a lovely dinner! 1/2 chicken from his father's farm, home made wine, and a pasta dish! The chicken was delicious.
We also contacted our airbnb in Athens who have agreed to have someone meet us at the airport, and checked in for our Lufthansa flight the following day.
We take a stroll to check the sunset again.
All's good!
