Naxos ( el, Νάξος; it, Nasso) is a city and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

on the island of

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...

, in the

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Naxos and Lesser Cyclades Naxos and Lesser Cyclades ( el, Νάξος και Μικρές Κυκλάδες) is a municipality in the Naxos regional unit, South Aegean region, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Naxos (city). The municipality consists of the Cyc ...

, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has 12,726 inhabitants, and the community 7,374 inhabitants (2011 census). The Naxos municipal unit covers an area of . It is located on the west side of Naxos Island in the

island group in the Aegean. It was the centre of archaic

Cycladic culture Cycladic culture (also known as Cycladic civilisation or, chronologically, as Cycladic chronology) was a Bronze Age culture (c. 3200–c. 1050 BC) found throughout the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea. In chronological terms, it is a rel ...

. It shares the island of Naxos with the municipal unit of

Drymalia Drymalia ( el, Δρυμαλία) is a former municipality on the island of Naxos, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Naxos and Lesser Cyclades, of which it is a municipal unit. With a land ...

History

Ancient Greek Naxos

During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Naxos dominated commerce in the

Revolt of Naxos

In 502 BC the inhabitants of Naxos rebelled against their masters in the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

; this revolt led to the larger

Ionian Revolt The Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 BC to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfac ...

, and then to the Persian War between

and Persia.

The Dukes of Naxos

In the aftermath of the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, with a

Latin Emperor The Latin Emperor was the ruler of the Latin Empire, the historiographical convention for the Crusader realm, established in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade (1204) and lasting until the city was recovered by the Byzantine Greeks in 1261 ...

under the influence of the Venetians established at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, the Venetian

Marco Sanudo Marco Sanudo (c. 1153 – between 1220 and 1230, most probably 1227) was the creator and first Duke of the Duchy of the Archipelago, after the Fourth Crusade. Maternal nephew of Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo, he was a participant in the Fourth C ...

conquered the island and soon captured the rest of the islands of the Cyclades, establishing himself as Duke of Naxia, or Duke of the Archipelago. Twenty-one dukes in two dynasties (Crispo) ruled the Archipelago, until 1566; Venetian rule continued in scattered islands of the Aegean until 1714.

Ottoman Naxos (1564-1821)

The Ottoman administration remained essentially in the hands of the Venetians; the Porte's concern was satisfied by the returns of taxes. Very few Turks ever settled on Naxos, and Turkish influence on the island is slight. Turkish sovereignty lasted until 1821, when the islands revolted; Naxos finally became a member of the Greek state in 1832.

Historical Population

Notable people

Kostas Manolas Konstantinos "Kostas" Manolas ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μανωλάς; ; born 14 June 1991) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for UAE Pro League club Sharjah. Club career AEK Athens 2009–1 ...

(born 1991), footballer

References

External links

* (in Greek) {{Authority control Naxos Cities in ancient Greece Populated places in the ancient Aegean islands Greek city-states Members of the Delian League Populated places in Naxos (regional unit)