Apiranthos Village Naxos

The Apiranthos village, we find it in the north east part of the beautiful Naxos about twenty eight kilometers from the capital Chora right at the foot of Mount Fanari.

Considered one of the most beautiful and picturesque villages at an altitude of 640 meters, it is built amphitheatrically giving an enchanting view over the fertile valley giving the impression of not being on an island properly but rather in some wonderful glimpse of the north of Greece.

Its origins date back to 1420 as written by the geologist and scholar of ancient civilizations Cristoforo Buondelmonti who attributes the foundation of the Apiranthos village to the Cretans in the tenth century. This belief is also confirmed by the fact that to date the 1100 inhabitants have preserved their dialect of words in ancient Greek mixed with Byzantine words, a language used in Crete over time and still in the present in the most remote villages.

One of the amazing things about the Apiranthos village is that despite the growing evolution and the increasing tourism, it manages to maintain its authenticity in all respects starting from local crafts such as handmade laces and laces , from the costumes used by women especially the elderly dressed strictly in black, to the transport of goods on the backs of donkeys also used to carry people, to traditions such as the Koudounati (literally bearers of bells) a remote custom linked to the God Dionysus who is held Carnival Sunday, where men wear fur and goat skins with bells around the waist, brandishing a stick that we hit on the ground to incite the surface to be more fertile. They pass through all the alleys of the town and then find themselves all together in the central square and start ritual dances where the Koudounati ring the bells to the rhythm of the bagpipes and the drum. The celebration ends with a visit to the cemetery to honor the deceased.

The meaning of Apiranthos is flowers abundance  and in fact the village houses are embellished with wild bougainvillea and colored oleanders that stand out from the immaculate white houses and streets in respect of the classic Cycladic style. A succession of meadows uphill with churches, craft shops, typical taverns and small cafes where you can sit and relax. Common denominator of all silence, especially if you go to visit it in the early morning or late afternoon.

The architecture of the Apiranthos village is unique, stone towers two of which from the 17th century by the Franks, old houses with coats of arms on the entrance that testify the Venetian domination, churches and marble alleys, yes because here you will see this material everywhere (another name of Apirathos is the marble village) up to the Venetian castle at the beginning of the village. Following the main road you arrive at a tavern where a majestic plane tree gives shade to the whole square and where you can admire the magnificent surrounding landscape in front of a glass of local ouzo.

Apiranthos despite its small size, it houses five museums, the Archaeological Museum where finds of the Cicadean age are found, the Geological Museum with fossils and the bones of the dwarf elephant that lived on the island in the late Pleistocene period, the History Museum Natural with a beautiful aquarium and a rich collection of shells, the Museum of Visual Arts which houses works by local artists and finally the Museum of Folklore where you can admire a typical local house with its fabrics, furnishings and utensils of past times .

Two interesting places of worship are worth a visit and are the imposing Agias Kiariaki church with bird figures with ribbons around its neck, and the Panagia Apeirathitissa church considered one of the oldest and largest in the whole. Naxos island right at the entrance of the village made of marble with precious icons inside. A curious legend revolves around this majestic church and tells that a pastor one day finding himself near the Moutsouma village with his flocks saw a light above the sea that approached the island. He therefore decided to go to the coast to understand what it was and found an icon of the Virgin Mary who decided to bring to protothronos church in the Halki village. The next day the pastor went to church but with amazement I did not find the image in its place but rather in a bush in Apiranthos. As a good devotee, he recovered the icon and returned it to the church from Halki, but every morning he found it in the same bush. The inhabitants of Apiranthos thus decided to build the Panagia of Apeirathitissa where the bush was located, interpreting the phenomenon as a divine sign and to give thanks to the Holy Virgin.

It is certainly better to have your own means of being completely independent. The journey is exciting, through the splendid Tragea valley with its succession of slopes and villages where everything seems to have stopped and where you can still breathe a typically Greek air made of ancient traditions and true flavors.

You can not absolutely not include in the things to see in Naxos the Apiranthos village, you will miss a small multi faceted diamond. A pity not to enjoy it.