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NAXOS (CHORA)
The island's port and capital, is a typical Cycladic town with a maze of narrow
streets and tiny passages. Hora is a lively town and makes a very good resort.
Behind the waterfront an extensive, almost Medieval Old Quarter stretches up
the hillside where Kastro (Castle) is. Walking around Kastro is a must while
the views will take your breath. The old town up on the hill is divided into
two neighbourhoods, Bourgos where the the Greeks lived and Kastro (Castle),
residence of the Venetian-Catholic nobility.
Places to visit include is the Archaeological Museum
with Mycenaean pottery and Cycladic figurines, Portara (on Palatia
islet) a huge portal (6 meters height, 3.5 meters width) of
the unfinished Temple of Apollo (530 BC by Naxos' tyrant Ligdamis),
the Venetian Kastro (Castle) where fortress walls are dated
back to the 13th century. Inside the Castle there is the Capuchines
Monastery, the Catholic Cathedral, the Ursulines Monastery and
the Catholic Episcopal Edifice.
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