- Naxos
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/nak"sos, -sohs, -seuhs/; Gk. /nah"ksaws/, n.a Greek island in the S Aegean: the largest of the Cyclades group. 14,201; 169 sq. mi. (438 sq. km).
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It is about 22 mi (35 km) long and 16 mi (26 km) wide, with an area of 165 sq mi (427 sq km). The capital and chief port, Náxos, on the western coast, is on the site of the island's ancient and medieval capitals. In ancient times, it was famous for its wines and the worship of Dionysus. In mythology, it is where Theseus abandoned Ariadne. In the 7th–6th centuries BC a deep-grained white marble was exported for statuary. It was captured by the Persians in 490 BC and by Athens in 471 BC. A Venetian duchy ruled from 1207 to 1566; it was later ruled by the Turks. In 1830 it joined the Greek kingdom. Ruins of a Mycenaean settlement (see Mycenae) have been found there. Nàxos produces white wine, citrus, and emery.* * *
▪ ancient Greek colony, Sicilythe earliest Greek colony in Sicily, founded by Chalcidians under Theocles (or Thucles) about 734 BC. It lay on the east coast, south of Tauromenium (modern Taormina), just north of the mouth of the Alcantara River, on what is now Cape Schisò. Although there were already native Sicels (Siculi) at Tauromenium, they cannot have offered much opposition. The adoption of the name of Naxos, after the island in the Aegean Sea, may show that there were Naxians among its founders. It soon founded other colonies at Leontini and Catana, which became far more important. After 461 BC Naxos was in opposition to Syracuse, allied with Leontini (427) and Athens (415). In 403 it was destroyed by Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, and its territory given to the Sicels. Its Greek exiles at last found refuge in 358 at Tauromenium. Scanty traces of its walls are to be seen.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
