Portara, Naxos

Portara is the huge marble gate of a hectic temple that began to be built in the 6th century BC. century, probably in honor of the god Apollo, on the island of Naxos. It is located on the islet of "Palatia", or "island of Bacchus", on the northern end of the port of Naxos. According to mythology, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on this islet, which Dionysus was then abducted by his sequence. The islet was not connected to Naxos until 1919, the year in which the stem connecting it to the rest of the island was built.

The construction of the temple, around 530 BC, began the tyrant Lygdamis, who aspired to create a temple similar to the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens. In 524 BC Lygdamis is redeemed by his power by the Lacedaemonians, the works stop and so the temple remains unfinished. One possible reason that was never completed the construction of this temple is the war that broke out between Samos and Naxos. Much later, the Christians built a church on the ruins of the ancient temple, and during the Venetian occupation many pieces of the temple were used to build the Naxos castle.