Jul 10, 2013
Postcards: The Venetian Museum of Náxos (GR)
The story of the Venetian Museum in Náxos is a fascinating one. Housed in a stone tower that is legacy of the Della Rocca-Barrozi family, the museum was founded and is curated by Nikos Karavias, descendant of the afore-mentioned Franco-Venetian noble houses on his maternal side, and of Cretan rebel against foreign occupiers on his paternal side. If you would like to know a little more of this Franco-Venetian-Greek family, you’d do well to read this article from the Levantian Heritage website.
We went on a guided tour of the tower house, consists of a main living area, a couple of bedrooms (with hidden access to other levels in the tower), a kitchen/dining area, a library/study, a private chapel, as well as a cellar/prison, and a courtyard. We were regaled with tales about different members of the family, pointed out significance of certain objects on display, and of course, treated to the harbour views from the tower. I’ll let the photos take you through parts of our guided visit.
The museum may be small, but it gave us an idea of what life was like for Venetian nobility in the past. We also learned of the materials used in the construction of the tower (e.g. stones from ancient ruins, recycled marbles, cinderwood from forest in Naxos) and various survival strategies in the tower, and by extension, in the Castro. Last but not least, the cellar that is today a gallery showcases current artists’ works that are available for sale.
The tour ended with a kitron-tasting session. Kitron in this context does not refer to lemon (given the similar sound to citron) but a particular Greek liqueur distilled from citron leaves. The kitron we were served were sweet, aromatic and have high alcohol content (30-40%). Some has been distilled together with honey, cinnamon, spices etc to give them additional complexity. Interesting drink to end an interesting morning. ;)
All posts in this series:
Greece: Postcards: Sunset in Oia
Greece: Chóra, Hora or Náxos Town? | Flickr Photoset
Greece: The Venetian Museum of Náxos | Flickr Photoset
Greece: An afternoon walk from Firá to Oia | Flickr Photoset
Greece: Caldera, volcano and hot spring | Flickr Photoset
Greece: Island time(table), Santorini edition
Greece: Postcards: Blue in Oia
Greece: Postcards: The idyllic village of Oia | Flickr Photoset
Greece: Just keep swimmin’, just keep swimmin’
Greece: Touring southern Santorini | Flickr Photoset
Greece: Postcards: Athens and the Acropolis | Flickr Photoset
pretty outdoors and (interesting too) indoors ;) thanks for sharrriinnnngggg
glad you enjoy these – more photos and post from greece to come soon!