Of particular interest to the visitor is the Naxos Archaeological Museum, housed in the old School of Commerce building where Catholic monks gave instruction and for a time the great Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis was a student. The building dates from the period of Frankish rule.
Copper sword from the First Cycladic Period (2800 – 2300 B.C.)
Prominence is given among the exhibits to what is known as the Cycladic Collection, containing marble vessels with incised spiral patterns, earthenware pots with finely developed decoration and designs, tools made of wood, stone and copper, representations engraved on marble slabs, funeral gifts and Cycladic statuettes which are famous for their simplicity of expression.
Clay decorated vase from the First Cycladic Period (first half of the 3rd millenium B.C.)
Gold sheet with stamped representation of a child (12th century B.C.)
The museum’s Mycenean collection contains finds from excavations at Grotta and the tombs at Aplomata and Kamini: ornate pots of differing shapes for various uses, funeral gifts made of gold, cameos and assorted small ornaments. Another room in the museum is given over to the display of objects from the Geometric,Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Particularly remarkable is the mosaic floor in Aplomata which depicts a nereid astride a bull, with deer, peacocks etc. at each corner.
According to research carried out by archaeologists, the mosaic was part of a house dating from the 4th century B.C.
The entrance to the Archaeological Museum of Naxos, located in the castle of Naxos Town.
