Naxos (city)

Naxos

Νάξος
Naxos Νάξος
Municipal unit
	View of the port
	Naxos Location within the regional unit
	Coordinates: 37°6′N 25°22′E / 37.100°N 25.367°E
Country	Greece
Administrative region	South Aegean
Regional unit	Naxos
Municipality	Naxos and Lesser Cyclades
Area
• Municipal unit	126.957 km2 (49.018 sq mi)
Elevation	11 m (36 ft)
Population (2021)
• Municipal unit	14,708
• Municipal unit density	120/km2 (300/sq mi)
• Community	8,897
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	843 xx
Area code(s)	22850
Vehicle registration	ΕΜ
Website	www.naxos.gr

Naxos (Greek: Νάξος; Italian: Nasso) is a city and a former municipality on the island of Naxos, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Naxos and Lesser Cyclades, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit.^[2] The municipal unit has 14,708 inhabitants, and the community 8,897 inhabitants (2011 census).^[1] The Naxos municipal unit covers an area of 126.957 square kilometres (49.02 sq mi).^[3] It is located on the west side of Naxos Island in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. It shares the island of Naxos with the municipal unit of Drymalia.

History

Ancient Greek Naxos

During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Naxos dominated commerce in the Cyclades.

Revolt of Naxos

In 502 BC the inhabitants of Naxos rebelled against their masters in the Persian Empire; this revolt led to the larger Ionian Revolt, and then to the Persian War between Greece and Persia.

The Dukes of Naxos

In the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, with a Latin Emperor under the influence of the Venetians established at Constantinople, the Venetian Marco Sanudo conquered the island and soon captured the rest of the islands of the Cyclades, establishing himself as Duke of Naxia, or Duke of the Archipelago. Sanudo ruled directly over Naxos and Milos and appointed governors on all the other islands. Marco Sanudo might have been helped by a council (università) inspired by the Venetian institution. Greeks and Latins were members of that council. Sanudo might have instituted the political fonction of vicario, who was supposed to replace him when he was away (which he was repeatedly). There also were a megas kapetanios (in Greek), commander in chief of the troops, a treasurer, a chancellor and a judicial administration.^[4] The Duchy also had its own currency: the ducat.^[5]

Sanudo changed the face of the island itself by moving the capital (the actual Naxos-town or Chora) from the interior to the seaside, where it used to be during the Antiquity. Its harbor was even better than Potamides. He built at least one pier. Some sources even say he link the mainland with the islet on which the temple is built. Some say that the chapel of Myrtidiotissa on a small islet in the middle of the harbor was built on the medieval pier. On the old acropolis, Sanudo built his kastro, his fortress. It comprised the palace, the exterior walls, a keep, a gothic chapel (since destroyed), the houses of the Latin families and the Catholic cathedral. Greeks built their houses between the harbor and the fortress, in the Bourgou and Neochorio suburbs.^[6]^[7]

Twenty-one dukes in two dynasties (Crispo) ruled the Archipelago, until 1566; Venetian rule continued in scattered islands of the Aegean until 1714.

Ottoman Naxos (1564–1821)

The Ottoman administration remained essentially in the hands of the Venetians; the Porte's concern was satisfied by the returns of taxes. Very few Turks ever settled on Naxos, and Turkish influence on the island is slight. Turkish sovereignty lasted until 1821, when the islands revolted; Naxos finally became a member of the Greek state in 1832.

Historical population

Year	Population
1991	9,824
2001	12,089
2011	12,726
2021	14,708

Notable people

Kostas Manolas (born 1991), footballer

References

^ ^a ^b "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
^ "ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities" (in Greek). Government Gazette.
^ "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece.
^ Charles A. Frazee, The Island Princes of Greece: The Dukes of the Archipelago, Adolf M. Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1988, p. 18.
^ J.K. Fotheringham and L.R.F. Williams, Marco Sanudo, conqueror of the Archipelago, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1915, p. 80.
^ Charles A. Frazee, The Island Princes of Greece: The Dukes of the Archipelago, Adolf M. Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1988, p. 20-21.
^ J.K. Fotheringham and L.R.F. Williams, Marco Sanudo, conqueror of the Archipelago, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1915, p.70-72