Naxos is the largest island of the archipelago of Cyclades with 428 km² for 14 000 inhabitants.
The principal city is Naxos (or Hora), the most important villages are Filoti, Apiranthos, Tragea, Koronos, Sangri and Apollonas.
Naxos is a popular tourist destination with several ruins and many nice beaches, located on the Western coast of the island.
It is the most fertile island of Cyclades, mountainous and dominated by the mount Zas (1004 m).
Naxos was inhabited for the first time, according to the tradition, by Thrace tribes, which brought the worship of the Dyonisos god there. Then the Ionian ones settled there, the island was the center of the Cycladic civilization (3200-2100 BC).
In 502 BC, the inhabitants of Naxos rebelled against the Persian Empire. This revolt preceded the Persians Wars.
During the VII and VIII century, Naxos is the most important trade centre of Cyclades.
During the Fourth Crusade, Venetian Marco Sanudo conquered the island and progressively all the Cyclades, inaugurating the Venetian Dukes dynasties of the Archipelago. These islands were controlled until to 1566 by two dynasties. The Venetian domination on Aegean continued until 1714 on some islands.
The Ottoman administration supplanted the Dukes of Naxos but left the capacity in the hands of Venetian, being satisfied by tax entries. Few Turkish settled in Cyclades, their influence was negligible. Ottoman sovereignty lasted until the revolt of 1821.
