The Archaeological Museum in Apiranthos Naxos, Cyclades is a worth visiting Naxos sightseeing. The village of Apeiranthos, is the only village of Naxos which has 4 museums.
The Archaeological Museum is a small museum on the main pedestrian street of the popular mountainous village of Apeiranthos. It was created from the Archaeological Collection collected by Michalis Bardanis, a great defender of the ancient heritage of Naxos.
It hosts findings from excavations in the area such as ceramics, Cycladic figurines, amphorae, jars, compasses, a fine collections of a kantili , oil lamps carved in stone lovely pottery from the protocycladic period 3000BC, weapons including obsidian blades and spearheads; a few bronze sculpture tools, and a huge stone bowl. There’re some remarkable objects with a series of stick men and animals carved on stone dated between 2700-2200BC. The rest of the museum is made up of objects of the Cycladic civilization coming from the surrounding area of Apiranthos.
It’s an intriguing museum because its objects have a directness and energy that comes from their simplicity.
In Apeiranthos village, known also as the stone village, you can find 3 more interesting Museums around the center of the village:
- The Folklore Museum
It is located in the main square, Platsa, and it’s a house like villa that consists of three rooms, kitchen, loft and bedroom workshop, and a yard. It was first opened in 1966, dissolved during a period of seven years, and reopened after 1987 on the initiative of Manolis Glezos. The exhibits are donations of village residents such as furniture, household utensils, weaves, looms, costumes, the shepherds’ tools, and the clothes of the inhabitants of Apeiranthos through the years.
Open to the public all days (except holidays) from May to October, with an entrance fee of 2 euros.
For more information you can call at: +3022850 61629.
- The Geological Museum
- The Museum of Natural History
Located at the entrance of the village, its exhibits are of particular interest. A special department dedicated to the land and the Marine World.
The Marine World exhibit includes skeletons of 2 kinds of bottlenose dolphins, bellow bones and skull, fish and reptiles, a large aquarium, and 265 shells of the island, along with photos and information.
The land world exhibit includes flora found in the near by water basin of the Perahoritis torrent, and samles of the fauna of Naxos.
It’s open to the public from May to October from 11.00am to 17.30pm
For more information you can call at +3022850 61622.
Geological Museum Naxos Sightseeing
The Geological Museum of Apiranthos in Naxos, Cyclades is located in the main square of the village. It is one of the most important museums of its kind in Greece. Though small, is extremely impressive, and is easily one of the most interesting ones in Naxos.
It was founded in 1964 by the honorary doctor of geology, Manolis Glezos, closed in 1967, and reopened ten years later. A great part of Manolis Glezos’ personal collection is here. The entire collection is called the “Petros Protopapadakis Geological Collection” and it’s the largest library of Cyclades islands.
More than 2000 rare stones, mineral rocks, and fossil finds from excavations both from the village, from Naxos and Cyclades, as well as the rest of Greece, and various parts of the world are exhibited in its showrooms. One can see mineral rock from meteorites, pumice from Santorini, obsidian blades from Milos, volcanic minerals from Mount Vesuvius and Mount Etna, and bauxite and cyanide from Brazil. In the last exhibition hall of the museum, you will come across a machine that sends out ultraviolet rays that allow you to see the various colorations of the rocks that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye.
Find also here different fossils, the most notable being the bones of the dwarf elephant that roamed on Naxos island about 70,000 years ago. A special room is dedicated to the history of emery in Naxos with important facts about the emery mines. Find also a rich marble collection from the area of Apeirathos and from all over Greece. There is a library with geological books and maps as well.
The museum is open to the public all day (except holidays) and the ticket costs 2 euros.
For more information you can call at +3022850 61725
