The Ancient Marble Portara, Naxos Harbour

Welcoming you to the port of Naxos Town, or Chora, is the ancient marble Portara - the unfinished Temple to Apollo which was built in the 6th century B.C. by the Naxian tyrant Ligdamis.

The Portara makes a stunning silhouette alone and majestic on the tiny island Palatia, which is connected to the Port by a narrow causeway.

Legend says that when Istanbul is returned to Greece the door to the Temple will magically appear. I woke anxiously to look every morning, but unfortunately no luck.

Naxos is known in mythology as the island where Theseus abandoned Ariadne, after slaying the Minotaur - and as the island where Ariadne met Dionysus, god of wine and protector of Naxos. The story has two versions of what happened next. One story tells us that Ariadne fell in love with Dionysus, while another version tells us that Ariadne was devastated - and to avoid the lustful advances of Dionysus, threw herself off the cliffs of Palatia into the sea.