General Info >
History >
History
 Aegean civilization makes up the “older” Europe, and contributes decisively to the evolution of the historical paths of Helladic land throughout the passage of centuries. The island of Naxos holds a prominent position in ancient Greek culture, a fact confirmed by the mass of archaeological finds scattered throughout the island. Naxos’ geographic position played a pivotal role in the island’s march through its rich history; and constitutes the central point – the “crossroads” of Eastern Europe-Asia and Southern Europe-Africa.
According to mythology, Zeus himself was reared in Naxos, and Apollo was especially revered on the island. Nevertheless, the best-known mythological legend is connected to Dionysos and Ariadne, according to which Theseus abandoned Adriane on the island, who earlier had helped him confront the Minotaur. Dionysos found Ariadne, fell in love with her and married her. And for that reason, Naxos has become known as the “Dionysos’ and Adriane’s Island”.
Archaeological finds attest to human presence on the island from the Neolithic Era, more specifically, from the 4th millennium B.C. The first inhabitants of Naxos were the Thracians, followed by the Kares and their king, Naxo (son of Apollo), from which the name of the island is derived. Cycladian civilization appeared at the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.C., and signals the beginning of cultural activity in the Aegean. Furthermore, Naxos Island was significantly influenced by the Minoans (after 1900 B.C.) and by the Mycenaean culture (up to the end of the 11th century B.C.
 During the 8th century B.C., the Cycladic island participated in the large colonization in the East and West, and in cooperation with Chalkida, founded the first Greek colony in Sicily which was named Naxos. In the 6th century B.C., the despot Ligdhami (with the help of the Athenian despot Pisistratou) seized power and brought about the financial and artistic zenith of Naxos. Thereafter, the island became the central cause of the outbreak of the Ionian Revolution, where, at the beginning of the 5th century B.C. the Persian fleet (commanded by exiled Naxians) led an unsuccessful effort to seize Naxos.
Nevertheless, in 490 B.C., the Persians would conquer the island, butchering and enslaving the inhabitants. In response, the Naxians would side with Greek forces in the naval battle of Salamina (480 B.C.), and in the battle of Plataion
(479 B.C.) and wind up– essentially – as subjects of the Athenians in 474 B.C., as members of the first Athenian Alliance.
In the course of events thereafter, custody of Naxos passed alternatively from the hands of Spartans, Macedonians, Rhodians, and Ptolemaians, before finally being seized by the Romans in 41 B.C., when it was included in the Roman province of Aegean islands, with its capital on Rhodes. During the Byzantine years, pirates from time to time unsettled the island’s inhabitants, by forcing them to pay special taxes to the Saracens.
 During this era, numerous Christian churches were built on the island. The physiological decline of the Byzantine naval forces contributed to the spread of the Venetians, with the result that in 1207 (three years after the capture of Constantinople by the Franks during the 4th Crusades) the diplomat and military personage of Marco Sanudo would prevail over the island of Naxos. The latter, after seizing other Greek Islands, founded the the Aegean Duchy (either of Naxos or of the Archipelago), with headquarters in Naxos at the beginning of the 13th century.
From that time on, the capital of Naxos is the Hora, in which the Kastro was built: a characteristic feature of long-term Venetian rule that clearly left its mark on the cultural, religious, and social life of the inhabitants of the island. In addition, there are scattered castled groupings all over Naxos that give evidence to the reign of a feudal system regime on the island.
The raids of the renowned pirate Barbarosa in the Aegean in 1537, gave custody of Naxos to Turkey, who incorporated the island completely in 1579, and kept it under occupation until the Greek Revolution of 1821. “Small parentheses” in the above historical excursion are the retrieval of the island by the Venetians (1684 – 1699), as well as the short-term Russian occupation (1771- 1774). In 1930, Naxos was incorporated into the then emergent Greek state; and from that point on, followed the course of contemporary Greek history.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
