temple of demeter

In the middle of the most rich fields of Naxos you will find this phenomenal site of what used to be the temple of the Goddess of agriculture, fertility, and the harvest. Getting there is easy and you can park right on the road. With a few steps up, you will find yourself surrounded by history and marvelous marble columns and stones of which used to be the part of the original temple. A visit it's highly recommended! This attraction is one of the thousand reasons why Naxos is simply adorable. Get ready to be amazed!

Relatively easy to find, watch for the signs, this site is perched on a hill with a great view. Parking is below with a good walkway up the hill. There is limited signposting.

Finding the paved route to this antiquity was not as easy as we thought. We missed the signed turn off through the town of Ano Sangri and then tried to get back which led us down an alley which was blocked by a parked vehicle. Due to the narrowness backing uphill to a driveway that allowed us to make the U was not easy but we did it. We finally backtracked our route and found our way to the parking area for this temple. From the road, the walk is up a meandering trail. It looks like there is an information office and small museum. Perhaps during the busy season both are open and an admission fee is required but they weren’t open in September. We walked around the temple taking photos. Unexpected was the non-uniform coloring of the blocks of stone. It was interesting to see this marble precursor to the Parthenon and this hill offers good views of the surrounding valley.

A long drive along little roads from the nearest village - don't hink that it's easy to get off the bus at the road end where you see the sign & walk.Ruins of temple of various dates. The interpretative signs were in English, but if you didn't know the direction of the compass points they were difficult to follow.Exhibition closed when we visited - opening times not displayed.

This was one of the stops on a guided bus tour. Visitors to Naxos should make it a priority to see as much of the island as possible. Standing in this historic spot, absorbing the information and taking in the "as far as you can see" views was worth the climb.

The drive to the Temple of Demeter was beautiful. This is set out in the fields of Naxos and the grounds are lovely. There is a small museum on the property that really gave fantastic information on how temples/statues are put back together with small bits and pieces that are excavated. It was definitely worth my time.

We visited the Temple as part of our one-day tour of Naxos Island. Impressive structure on top of a hill with great views. A well-constructed stone path leads to the Temple at the top of the hill. There is a museum on the way to the Temple, but, unfortunately, it was closed the day we visited.

One of the top priorities when visiting Naxos!! Easily accessible by car not far from chora, perfectly organized. A stunning view when approaching the temple, nice walk up the hill. The temple is nicely presented and accompanied by a modern small muceum that got international aword. In addition no entrance fees!

Very impressive to see and a well maintained site despite the free entry. There is a lovely museum on the site as well which is a must see containing artifacts from the area.

The temple lies on a hill in a fertile valley . There are reasonably well preserved marble remains of the temple . But above all is the location beautifull with great views on the valley and the mountains.

One very impressive temple in the middle of nowhere in Naxos, surrounded by sloaps full of green, looking like the teple mas ment to be for the goddess of fertility. Even in Summer is impressive, The surrounded area is maintained beautifully with stones and aleys that they drive you to a semi ruined temple in the top of a hill.

Good temple, worth the visit if you rent à car to make à tour on the Island. But not the best ruin ever seen. Not deceving but not "waoo" either!

We had hired a car for the day, and the Demeter Temple was on our radar. Follow the signs/instructions, and you will be able to find without too much difficulty. Easy parking on the road below, with lots of spring flowers in bloom. Easy steps up to the Temple. Didnt expect the ruins to be quite this good. OK, its not the Acropolis, but for an island like Naxos, it really is an iunexpected find. It was really unfortunate for us that the Museum wasnt opened, as peering through the windows, it looked quite good. Great stop on our day tour.

Rating is always a matter of subjectivity, and maybe 5 stars is a lot to give to a site whose reconstruction was co-financed through European Union funds (1994-2000) and yet the explanatory signs and photographs have already faded from the sun...Nevertheless, for ancient (greek) ruins fans and nature fans and road adventure seekers, this is a treat...not far from Chora and quite close to Plaka (about 17 km from where I started), albeit through a rather bumpy and rather narrow and winding, half dirt half cement/asphalt road that connects Plaka to Tripodes (Vivlos) - it presents numerous opportunities to stop the car and take a beautiful picture, Tripodes itself being a quaint village with great view on the coast- and then to Sangri -with a beautiful castle-half monastery- and further along to the site of the Temple . If the road is a/the major part of the adventure this site gets more than 5/5! The final 2,5 kms of the road is through the fertile plains of Naxos -how appropriate for a temple that is devoted to the goddess of fertility... well tended path leading to the temple, with interesting encounters -I almost came face to face with a friendly cow, eagerly chewing its grass in the neighbouring field. Unfortunately the museum was closed at 10 in the morning, or so it seemed -probably due to lack of personnel? Yes, whatever remains is a reconstructed temple, but this is based on scientific finds, unlike Knossos about which (almost) nobody minds. Beautiful, serene environment. Pity that the Greek State is unable to properly care for this place -besides the path. It must be great to experience the site in a moonlit night if you are willing to walk the long path -there is a light installation there but who knows if it works..

Okay, so this was a little off the grid, a little hard to find, we did get "kinda" lost (more than once) we almost decided NOT to keep going, but then we found it! It was so worth the drive and the map confusion in the car ; ) . You actually walk right up to the ruins, on your own, take as many photos as you like! It was both humbling and incredible at the same time. You could sense the history as you slowly walked these sacred grounds. Pack LOTS of water, snacks, good maps, hats, comfy shoes, sunscreen and patience (for when you take a wrong turn) ;) You will not regret the drive. Keep in mind there are no markets, tavernas or washrooms in the immediate surroundings of this site. Added bonus; you get to see a lot of farms, Naxos topography and other villages on the the way there and back. We went directly to Kastriki beach to cool off in the sea after viewing this site!