We had wanted to visit some of the mountain villages during our stay on Naxos. We decided rather than renting a car and exploring on our own to hire a local guide for the day. The guide we went with along with showing us the many interesting places in the villages, also introduced us to many of the local's which really added to our experiencing the true flavor of each town we visited. After stopping at the Temple of Demeter and the Bazeos Tower, which I covered on separate posts, we moved on to the village of Halki or as its also spelled, Chalki. Walking through some of the pedestrian streets With its central location the village of Halki was the former capital of Naxos and center of commercial activity for the inland villages of Naxos. The area around Halki is a lush and fertile valley with many Olive trees, grape vines and fruit trees. The mansions from the 18th century still standing, shows its past affluence. Images of some of the local architecture We wandered through the small streets and alleys and passed many interesting shops and cafes along the way. A very old balance in a wonderful little spice shop The Kitron Distillery Dating back to 1896 and still made the same way the Vallindras family distillery and museum is located in Halki. Kitron is a liquor made from the citron trees that grow on Naxos. It is similar to a lemon but the fruit itself is quite bitter so it is not used in the distilling process but is used to make marmalades sold on Naxos. The leaves from the tree and also the rind from the citron is what is distilled. Kitron comes in three varieties. The green one is sweeter and contains less alcohol. The strongest one is yellow and has the least sugar. The clear version is somewhere in between. Images in the museum Kitron was popular in the latter part of the 20th century and was exported but more recently due to a shortage of the Citron trees its hard to find outside of Naxos. After our tasting we moved on and headed back to our guides car. We were going to the village of Apeiranthos after a stop about mid way there for lunch. Our restaurant the "Rotonda" was just off the road overlooking the beautiful valley going back to the sea. This windmill was located above the restaurant As you can see we ate on a beautiful terrace overlooking the valley After finishing our lunch we started making our way towards Apeiranthos. Along the way we drove through the town of Filoti. Our guide didn't stop in Filoti as he felt that although it is a beautiful town in its own rights, due to its size it lacked the feel and charm of the smaller villages we were visiting. Arriving at the village of Apeiranthos At an altitude of around 2000 feet above sea level Apeiranthos is one of the most beautiful and picturesque villages in the Cyclades. The roughly 1100 inhabitants have managed to retain the villages truly unique characteristics including their own distinct dialect that is believed to be related to Crete. There are similarities with the villages architecture to the mountain villages of Crete, possibly dating back to the 10th century. Images from inside Panagia Aperathitissa The double headed eagle above to the left is one of the most recognized symbols of the Orthodox Church of the late Byzantine era, aside from the Orthodox cross. The bells on the top of the Orthodox Church After leaving the church we began walking and soon found our way to the foot of a huge tower. We noticed what looked like pigeon holes high up in the wall. The Bardanis and Zevgolis tower We continued walking through the beautiful marble alleys seeing the interesting old houses and learned a few surprises about Apeiranthos. We saw the unique styles of the houses built right into the side of the mountain. We also some marble stones in the walkway that had writing carved in them. Our guide told us that they used to bury the dead under their houses and the carving in the walkway acted as the grave stone. Carving into the walkway indicates a grave under the front of the house The beautiful style of the houses we walked past We walked past of number of homes that looked abandoned. Our guide told us that when the owner of a house dies with no heirs rather than sell it they just leave it empty. They don't want outsiders in the village. We slowly worked our way back to the huge tower and continued back to the car for our drive back to Naxos Town.
This was a very enjoyable day tour. If you're interested in the young man that was our guide just send me a comment asking about him and I'll gladly share it.
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