Temple of Demeter
In the village of Sagri, in Gyroula, you will find one of the most remarkable buildings of ancient Naxos, the Temple of Demeter. It dates back to 530-520 BC. and is of Ionic rhythm. It lies on top of the hill of a fertile valley, overlooking both the sea and the mountain of Zeus. The sanctuary of Demeter, together with the temple of Yria, are considered architecturally the predecessors of Parthhenon.

Temple of Demeter

The temple is made entirely out of white square marbles, while columns decorate its facade. The columns that existed inside the temple supported its roof. As indicated by inscriptions found in the temple, the site was dedicated to the worship of the goddess Demeter and Daughter. The goddess Demeter was the goddess of vegetation and fertility, according to the ancient Greeks, so it is natural that the temple was built in an area suitable for agricultural exploitation.

St John Gyroula
A few meters from the archaeological site is the Museum where the most important movable finds and architectural parts from the restoration of the templecan be found. Lastly, right next to the temple is the church of St. John Gyroula.

The Museum

Temple of Dionysus in Yria
Just 3 km from Naxos Town, in Livadia, you will find the ancient sanctuary of Dionysus, a temple of Ionic style of ancient Greek architecture. The sanctuary operated uninterruptedly from the 14th century BC until the Roman Period. Its importance is perceived by the fact that in the Roman times the statues of Julius Caesar and Markus Antonios were placed in the area of Yria.

Yria

The worship of Dionysus at this exact place starting from the Mycenaean era (14th BC) until the Mesogheometric period (800-750 BC) was taking place outdoors. Then followed the construction of four consecutive buildings, in the same position and with the same orientation, which served the constant and ever increasing needs of the faithful in an area with exceptional geomorphological difficulties because of its marshy nature. The first of these buildings dates back to the early 8th century B.C. and was destroyed by a neighboring river. The river also flooded the next temples that were built here. The last and today restored temple was built in 575-550 BC. In the 2nd century AD the Christians used the temple to build the church of St. George. However, in the 12th century, the church was destroyed by a flood and the Christians of the area took the marbles of the temple and built the nearby church of St. George.
St George Church
Today the founding stones and very few parts of the walls are preserved. There is a small exhibition area, while at the Archaeological Museum of Chora you can admire the statue of Dionysus found in Yria. One of the characteristics of the statue is that it has no head. According to history, every conqueror of Naxos forced the inhabitants to worship him as the new Dionysus, and as a result the head of the statue was cut off and replaced by the head of the new conqueror.

Column of Ionic rhythm in Yria

The Kouros in Flerio of Melanes
In Naxos there are three giant and unfinished "Kouros", which stands for statues of young men. All three statues date back to the Archaic period (7th-6th centuries BC) and they are in the same positions that they have once begun to be sculptured without ever being completed. The two of them are in Flerio, while the third and largest is near Apollon! *** For more information about Apollon's "Kouros", go to "Location - The Village" ***
Apollon's Kouros
One of the "Kouros" at Flerio is not easily accessible. But you can visit the other one. Going from Melanes to Kynidaros, you will come across a sign that will take you to the ancient quarry of Flerio and the statue of "Kouros".It represents a naked young man and can be found in an orchard lying on the ground. The length reaches the 6.4 meters. Its form and style are genuine examples of ancient Naxian marble sculpturing. His right leg is broken and the accident probably happened during its transfer from the ancient quarry to the valley. This is also probably the reason why it has remained in the same position, unexploited for so many years.

The Kouros at Flerio of Melanes Village
All three of the "Kouros" of Naxos are believed to express the way of how the gods were perceived by the Ancient Greeks. They have similar characteristics to the mortal man, but are taller and stronger. For this reason, the statues are believed to represent gods that were important to the ancient inhabitants of Naxos, such as Dionysos, the god of wine.

The inaccessible Kouros at Flerio

Mycenaean Tomb in Chosti
The Mycenaean Tomb in Chosti, is one of the most important monuments in the area of Komiaki. It is located on the northern side of the settlement and at a distance of 200 meters from the village borders, near the fountain of Chosti. It is one of the three Mycenaean vaulted tombs that have been found so far in the Cyclades - the other two are Agia Thekla in Tinos and the Aggelikos of Mykonos.
Mycenaean Tomb
It consists of a burial chamber, circular, built with boulders mounted horizontally, that is to say in horizontal layers, each protruding slightly from the previous one, so as to create a dome. The boulders hold each other with their weight without binder. The chamber has an internal diameter of 3.30 m and a height of 2.40 m. The roof is closed with a large plate and the entrance of the tomb is on the eastern side where it ends with a small road with built sides.
To the Mycenaean Tomb
After the burial, the dome and the road had been covered with a tumulus of soil, but the tomb was seized and the opening on the south side was probably due to smugglers. Unfortunately, the looting of the tomb has wiped out valuable data, so its exact dating remains hypothetical, and is placed around 1300 BC.

Mycenaean Tomb

It is probable that this is the tomb of a local lord whose name does not arise from the few finds of the tomb but is probably related to the place name of the Axos area, which in turn is linguistically associated with the name "Naxos", where Naxos was the first king of the island to come from the area of Asia Minor as head of a group of settlers.

The tomb is only 25 minutes away by car from the village of Apollon and Adonis Hotel.