The Portara, the gateway of the Temple of Apollo

What it is

The Portara is the marble door frame of a temple that was never finished. It was commissioned by the tyrant Lygdamis around 530 BC on the islet of Palatia, at the entrance to the harbour of the Chora. It was to be a great Ionic temple dedicated to Apollo, about 59 m long and 28 wide, with the entrance to the west. Work stopped a few years later, at the latest in 524 BC, when Lygdamis fell.

Almost all that remains of that project is the door. Its blocks were so heavy that nobody carried them off, while the rest of the temple ended up, in Venetian times, in the walls of the castle of the Chora. In the 5th century the Christians built a church to the Virgin over the ruins, and to do so opened a passage in the marble base. Around the frame you can still see the foundations and part of the floor of the temple.

The islet also has its myth: here, tradition says, Theseus abandoned Ariadne and Dionysus took her away. That is why Palatia is also called the island of Bacchus.

How to get there

You go on foot. From the port area and the KTEL bus station follow the promenade north and take the causeway that joins the islet to the island. That link didn't exist until 1919; before that Palatia was a separate island. The walk takes about ten minutes from the ferry quay and is flat, with a final stretch of gentle climb over the islet, on earth and rock.

If you arrive by car, don't take it into the port: park wherever you can at the entrance to the Chora and walk. If you come by ferry, the Portara is the first thing you see on entering the bay and you can visit it while you wait for your boat, a few minutes from the port.

Hours and price

The site is in the open air, with no ticket office or timetable: free entry at any time. There are no facilities on the islet, no shade, no water; the cafés and tavernas are on the other side of the causeway, on the harbour promenade.

Half an hour is enough to climb up, walk round the frame and look at the coast. If you want to understand what you are seeing, combine it with the Archaeological Museum of Naxos, in the upper part of the Chora, inside the Venetian castle. The Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades lists it with free admission, open from 9:00 to 14:00; in summer (April to October) it closes on Tuesdays.

When to go

At sunset the sun goes down behind the door, and that is when everyone goes up: in June, July and August the islet fills up half an hour before sunset and it is hard to take a photo without people. At dawn, on the other hand, you will be almost alone and the light hits the marble head-on. Out of season, from November to March, the visit is quiet at any hour.

With the meltemi, the July and August north wind, the causeway gets sprayed by waves. It is not dangerous to walk on it, but protect your camera and don't go near the rocks at the edge.

With children and reduced mobility

The causeway is wide and flat, suitable for pushchairs. The last slope of the islet is earth and loose stone, and around the temple there are level changes with no railing: keep the little ones by the hand. In a wheelchair you can see the Portara from the foot of the islet, but getting up to the frame is hard.

After the visit, Agios Georgios beach is a few minutes' walk on the other side of the Chora, and in the old town you have tavernas such as To Spitiko or Metaxi Mas. The marble of the door came from the quarries inland; if you are interested in how it was worked, carry on to the reclining kouros of Flerio.