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Giardini Naxos

With a population of 9000 inhabitants it is actively occupied with agriculture and tourism.

The history of Giardini is closely linked with that of the city of Naxos, the first Greek colony in Sicily. Having declined under the Byzantines, it slowly regained its importance until it gradually grew into a leading tourist resort during the 19th century, a position that it has consolidated until today.

As we enter the town, we encounter the Chiesa di Santa Maria Raccomandata, on which construction began in the 18th c. and continued in the 19th c. It contains a font (1703) and a panel painting of the Madonna di Porto Salvo (1573) that used to be in a church of the same name, which no longer exists.

Proceeding in the direction of Schiso headland we come to the Archaeological Museum, which displays various material from local excavations.

From Giardini Naxos it is easy to visit Messina, Taormina, Catania and Syracuse as well as the picturesque Alcantara gorge.

A bit of history.

This is the first Greek colony in Sicily. According to Thucydides, Naxos was founded in the 5th c. BC by the Greeks from the city of Chalcis, near Capo Schiso, in an area inhabited since the Neolithic Age.

Naxos was conquered and destroyed by Syracuse in 476 BC, after resisting, in 498 BC, the attack of Hippocrates, the tyrant of Gela. It was rebuilt and its inhabitants returned 10 years later. During the Peloponnese War it was an ally of Athens and in 403 BC it was completely destroyed by Dionysius I of Syracuse. The political power in the area soon shifted to Tauromenion (Taormina), although Naxos endeavoured to survive this destruction.

Excavations have revealed traces of roads and houses, the temenos and various sacella inside and outside the town; one of these has been identified as the Sanctuary of Apollo Archegetes.

The walls, with a gate and a tower , were massive, as the traces indicate.