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Archaeological site · Naxos town (Chora), Naxos and Lesser Cyclades, South Aegean

Portara, Naxos

Πορτάρα

The Portara is the standing marble gateway of an unfinished temple of Apollo begun in 530 BC on the islet of Palatia at the entrance to Naxos harbour; this record is the temple site and its gate.

Why go

This record is the site of the unfinished temple of Apollo on the islet of Palatia, also called Bacchos, at the harbour of Naxos town; its standing marble gateway is known as the Portara. The Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades says Lygdamis of Naxos decided in 530 BC to build the temple, that it was left unfinished after his overthrow in 524 BC, and that the gate is a door-frame made of four huge marble sections. It says the temple later became a Christian basilica and, under Venetian rule, served as a quarry for other buildings, mainly the castle of Naxos town, while the gate survived because of its size and weight. The Naxos and Small Cyclades tourism site says the islet is joined to the Naxos mainland by a paved footpath.

Near Portara, Naxos