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According to mythology, Zeus, king of gods, grew up in Naxos, hidden
away from the ferocity of his father, Cronus, by his mother; Naxos
is also the place where Dionysus, god of wine and feast, and son
of Zeus, was born and grown by some nymphs.
Dionysus loved so much Naxos that he made it a fertile land, full
of vineyards, producing a wine of excellent taste and fine quality.
Naxos is also where, according to another myth, Theseus, after killing
the Minotaur of Crete, took Ariadne, the daughter of the Cretan
King, Minos, who helped him find his way in the labyrinth were the
Minotaur was kept, and stopped in Naxos on his way back to Athens.
There, he left Ariadne (or Ariadne left him, depending of the version
of the legend) for whom Dionysus felt madly in love with.
The god took the young girl to Mount Drios and, from there union,
Oinopion (Wine Drinker), Staphylos (Grape) and Evanthi (Lovely Flower)
were born.
Historically, Naxos was the most important centre of civilization
of all the Cyclades during the ancient period, 4000-1000 BC.
Thracians were the first inhabitants of the island and stayed on
the island for two centuries, until the Carean took control of Naxos;
it is believed that the island owns its name to their leader called
Naxos.
Then, the island was dominated by the Ionians who helped the development
and growth of the island’s civilization, which became very
wealthy during the 7th century BC, because the inhabitants of the
island started the sea trading.
During the Persian War, Naxos was helping the Athenians who took
it under control after their victory.
Then the Peloponnesian War came, during which the Athenians lost
against the Spartans who took the domination of the island.
Then, Naxos felt under a succession of authorities which were the
Macedonian Empire, the Ptolemy of Egypt, the Rhodians and, in 41
BC, the Roman Empire.
Christianity appeared on the island during the first century AD.
The Venetian started to conquer the are of Cyclades and managed
to win them over the Romans who lost completely territorial control
in this area...
In 1207, Marco Sanudo (Venetian) took the Cyclades and established
a duchy, called the Duchy of the Aegean in which Naxos was the headquarter
and where the new ruler installed.
The first reaction of the inhabitants of Naxos was negative against
the Venetian ruler but they were obliged to admit their defeat.
It was during those years that Marco Sanudo built the beautiful
and powerful castle on the top of Naxos Town and divided the island
into 56 provinces, distributed among the various Venetian nobles.
The power of Marco Sanudo last until 1564, when the Turks took
the entire Greece.
During the Turkish Ottoman rule, Naxos had a privileged place for
the Venetian negotiate to keep their authority and their monarchic
administration and the Turks never established on the island and,
the only thing there were demanding was to receive their taxes in
time.
The island of Naxos became part of the liberated New Greek State
in 1831. |
