Portara

On a small rocky islet just off the harbour of Naxos town, a single marble doorway frames the sea like a picture. The Portara, one of the great Cycladic landmarks of Greece, meaning 'great door', is the best-known landmark on Naxos and the one image that most people connect with the island. It is the entrance of an unfinished temple, begun around 530 BCE during the rule of the tyrant Lygdamis, and its position on the rock of Palatia, joined to the town by a causeway, makes it unforgettable. Naxos town is linked by regular ferries to Paros and to the other Cycladic islands.

The doorway is made of four huge blocks of local marble: two upright jambs about six metres high, a massive lintel and a threshold. Most scholars link the building to a sanctuary of Apollo, although some argue for Dionysus, the god strongly associated with Naxos. The temple was never completed, probably because of the fall of its patron and political changes in the Aegean Sea region. The marble was later reused: a Christian church was built inside the enclosure in late antiquity, and the Venetians took stone for their castle in the town. The door survived because it was too heavy to move.

The approach is part of the experience. A short stroll along a paved causeway from the waterfront passes small beaches and the fishing boats, and the path ends on a flat summit scattered with foundation blocks and drums that outline the temple's footprint. Visitors will find that there is little else on the islet, so the pleasure comes from the setting: the view back to the white houses and the Venetian tower of the old town, and across the water toward the island of Paros.

While the site is small, it draws a crowd. Sunset is the busiest moment, when people gather to photograph the door against the orange sky, and a visit early in the morning is far quieter. The site is open and exposed to the wind, so a jacket is useful out of season. The walk takes just minutes from the harbour, and nearby cafes and tavernas along the waterfront make it easy to end the visit with a drink.