“Where Zeus himself was said to live. Where his son Dionysus frolicked and presumably drank and threw orgies and danced all night…” – Anthony Bourdain

Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades islands, is one of those places where you can just forget about the pressures of life, where time slows down and relaxation is the order of the day – apart from how Dionysus apparently carried on that is. 

We arrived on a small propeller plane from Athens into the minuscule commuter airport of Naxos – 30 mins (if that) in the air and Naxos appearing out of the hazy blue Aegean. We were met by Stelios in his beaten-up green Toyota Starlet (no seatbelts) who spirited us into the Chora, the main port centre of the island, dropping us at our gorgeous apartment (owned by Antonis the son of Stelios, of course) for three days, just steps down to the waterfront, lined with restaurants looking out towards nearby Paros and Anti Paros. SeaJets ply the Aegean waters between the islands – whizzing across to Paros, Ios, Amorgos, Santorini and Milos. There are even bigger ferries here, the Blue Star Line, that take up to 5-6 hours sailing from Athens, dwarfing the SeaJets in the port. The bigger ferries are frequent visitors to the port of Naxos, particularly in the height of Summer, blasting their horns as they get close to docking, as if shooing the smaller SeaJets away, the loud noise reverberating throughout the port far up into the higher reaches of the castle and booming in the nearby narrow laneways. You wouldn’t want to be having an afternoon snooze, as it’s so loud it’d wake the dead! 

We’re here in mid-May, so technically, out of season and still unseasonably cool. The crowds don’t really begin to descend on this jewel of an island until the end of June, July and peak season, August and September. So, in essence, we had the place to ourselves – well, not really, but it wasn’t crowded and we got into any restaurant we liked. Even the beaches were largely empty, though still charging €30 for a sunbed and umbrella! Waterfront restaurants around the port were plentiful and excellent, with freshly caught grilled fish, Calamari and Octopus, Souvlaki, delicious local fish soups and, of course, the obligatory Greek Salad, only here it’s called a Naxios Greek Salad, overloaded with the most delicious Greek Feta, Capers, Fresh Oregano, Onions, Olives, juicy Tomatoes and Cucumber with Paximadia (Cretan Barley Rusks) to soak up the juices. Delicious! All washed down with some local Greek wine. English is commonly spoken everywhere, but a few choice words of Greek always go down a treat. Kaliméra (Good morning), Sas efcharistó poly (Thank you very much) and Ta léme xaná (See you again), not forgetting the obligatory Yasou or Yasas, which can mean both hello and goodbye, depending to whom you’re talking to. 

The 13^th Century Castle of Chora (Fortezza) dominates the town, serving as a fortified Acropolis – it was constructed over the ruins of an ancient city, serving as the administrative, religious and cultural centre of the Duchy of the Archipelago or, the Duchy of Naxos, established by a Venetian nobleman, with the Duchy existing from 1207 until 1566, dominating the Cyclades until falling to the Ottomans. It was known throughout the region as ‘The Eye of Crete’, due to its strategic position with visibility across three seas at the same time, the Ionian, Aegean and Cretan. 

Many centuries of building have created a tightly packed labyrinth of tiny cobbled laneways and white-washed houses, some with metre-thick walls, tumbling on top of each other and wrapped around what remains of the castle – with small dark tunnels running through buildings to create a circular maze that’s so easy to get lost in. Often, it’s just you and the stray cats that seem to be everywhere on this island, weaving through the maze of laneways as if they owned the place.  

Heading up the castle’s higgledy-piggledy laneways, heaving with purple Bougainvillea, scented Jasmine and tumbling Honeysuckle, you eventually reach the 13^th Century Greek Orthodox Cathedral, originally constructed under the Venetian ruler, Marco Sanudo. This tiny Cathedral houses two dazzling gold icons, one predating the church itself to the 12^th Century. Stepping into this ancient place, out of the bright Aegean sunshine into the gloom of the 13^th Century you’re immediately consumed with the byzantine aromas of heavenly Frankincense and Myrrh, fusty dusty mosaic floors and overly waxed wood. It’s a sensory overload! 

Dotted around the castle walls are small boutique hotels and countless apartments and rooms to rent, all with heady views over the town and, some, gazing out to the blue Aegean. But, the idea of dragging heavy luggage up these narrow cobbled vertical laneways, slippery from centuries of wear, is a daunting and difficult venture – we saw some exhausted fellow travellers struggling with their luggage, trapped in the labyrinth and seemingly divested of the will to live. 

Right at the top of the Fortezza is the Avaton 1739 restaurant, perched impossibly high above the town with incredible views in all directions over the gleaming white rooftops of the Chora towards distant Mykonos and beyond. It’s a magical setting with the Swallows squealing overhead and the sparkling blue Aegean beneath.  

We’re leaving Naxos for an even smaller, more off the beaten track, destination: the tiny islands of Koufonissia – Ano Koufonisi and Kato Koufonisi. It’s a brief half an hour on the SeaJet, but you’re transported to another time, where tourists have yet to invade in their hoardes, where cares really are forgotten.