iloti, on the lower slopes of Mountain Za, has once more become a busy village in recent years. The village church, Our Lady Filotissa, is one of the island's finest, with a marble screen and a carved bell-tower, dated 1801.
The Platanos ("plane-tree") is the bustling centre of the village, an ideal spot for the visitor passing through Filoti to quench his thirst. After Filoti the road begins to twist up the side of Mt Za and we reach the Apeiranthos region. The village climbs up the slopes of a hill between two valleys with wines and irrigated land.

he "marble village", as Apeiranthos was called because of its marble- paved streets and the considerable use made of marble in the building of its houses, spreads out around two mansions with the Lion of St Mark, the emblem of Venice, at their doors, which until the beginning of the 19th century belonged to foreign, "Frankish", landowners. Today they are referred to as the Zevgolis house and the Bardanis house. It is well worth strolling about Apeiranthos, where, passing through the arcades and the alleys, you will be surprised by the unexpected "piazzas" and the cul de sacs.

	ne can't stay untouched by the great care employed over detail, by the corners of the houses, which have been made into surfaces suitable for the chiselling of a cross and by the covered balconies, that remind the visitor the sea shells and the ocean, here in this mountain village.
Also eye-catching- on the roofs of the houses- are the "gardens of strange flowers", as the chimneys of Apeiranthos have been described.

he chimneys of Naxos are so varied in type and imaginative in form and construction that it would be difficult to find two alike in all the island. Among the other sights of Apeiranthos are the churches, with successive layers of murals, dating from the time of the Iconoclastic controversy to the 13th century, Our Lady Aperathitissa, with a carved marble screen and post- Byzantine icons, and the little Archaeological Museum.

Photos and text taken from "Naxos - Today and yesterday" (Toubis Editions)

Previous highlight A walk to the old Chora and Kastro

Next highlight Island's beach