Halki

Roughly in the middle of Naxos, the village of Halki, also written Chalki, was for centuries the main settlement of the Tragea valley, a broad highland basin planted with olive groves and scattered with small Byzantine chapels. It is often called the old capital of the island, because wealthy landowners lived here during the Venetian and Ottoman periods and because it stood at the centre of the island's agricultural life. The result is a village with a very different feel from the busy harbour town: dignified, quiet and full of fine old houses.

The lanes of Halki are lined with tall neoclassical mansions of the nineteenth century, many with painted facades, carved doorways and balconies, some of them restored and used as galleries or shops. Venetian towers stand among them, including the Grazia tower, a fortified house that recalls the days when landowners needed protection and when families built towers as refuges and as symbols of status. The marble-paved main street and shaded squares keep the village pleasant to stroll through, even at midday.

The oldest monument is the church of Panagia Protothronos, one of the earliest Christian buildings on the island, with a foundation that goes back to the Byzantine period and wall paintings from several centuries, in the Byzantine style. The church stands in the village and is a good example of the way early churches on Naxos were rebuilt and redecorated over time. Other chapels in the olive groves around the village contain frescoes of similar age, and it is possible to walk between them along old paths.

Halki is also known for kitron, a liqueur made from the leaves and fruit of a type of citron that grows on Naxos. A distillery in the village, founded in the late nineteenth century by the Vallindras family, still produces it, and visitors can taste and buy bottles. Cafes and tavernas in the squares serve coffee, meze and local dishes, and the pace is leisurely, giving visitors a taste of Naxian village life.

Visitors will find the village about 15 kilometres from the port and is reached by car, bus or scooter, and it forms a natural stop on a circular drive through the interior along with Filoti, Apeiranthos and Mount Zas. Late afternoon, when the light softens and the day's heat eases, is a good time, and the village is quieter than the coastal resorts.