Naxos Portara, Cyclades: The Portara, or the Great Door, is essentially a massive marble door that stands proudly as the jewel of Naxos. It is near the port, on the island of Palatia, which was once a hill. In ancient times, a strip of land connected the northern part of the port of Naxos to the island of Palatia. Today, the strip of land has been replaced by a roadway. The myth says that the islet of Palatia was exactly where Ariane, the Minoan princess, was abandoned by her lover Theseus after killing Minotaur on the island of Crete.

Around the year 530 BC AD, while Naxos was at its peak, the then leader, Lygdamis, wanted to build the tallest and most magnificent buildings of all Greece in Naxos. He ordered the construction of a gigantic temple, but when the war broke out between Naxos and Samos, work stopped abruptly.

After that, Lygdamis was overthrown in 506 BC. AD and the temple, which was to be at least a hundred feet high, was never completed. Today, all that remains of the temple is the Portara. The temple was to be ionic, 59 m long and 28 m wide, with a peristyle of 6 columns on 12 columns and a double portico at its end. It is believed that this temple was to be built in honor of Apollo, the Greek god who protected music and poets. The proof is that the temple faces Delos, which would be the birthplace of Apollo.

However, some scholars believe that this temple was to be built in honor of Dionysus, god of wine and patron of Naxos. The door measures approximately 6m high and 3.5m wide and includes four separate columns. Each column weighs about 20 tons. In the Middle Ages, a church was built behind the Portara. Later, under Venetian rule, it was dismantled so that marble could be used to build the Kastro, a fortress built at the time of the Venetians as well as other monuments and buildings.

Fortunately, the Portara was too heavy and massive to be completely dismantled. However, today, of the four columns, only three have survived. Admittedly, even if it is a steep climb up the hill, the only experience of watching the sunset through the Portara is worth it. Wherever you are in Naxos, your eyes can not miss the Portara.