Portara is located on the small island of Palatia, once a hill on the island of Naxos before the Mediterranean Sea levels rose, now connected by a causeway.

This famous doorway is nearly all that remains of the 2500-year-old temple conceived by the tyrant Lygdamis in 530 BC. Scholars disagree on whether this unfinished temple was built to honor Apollo since it faces towards his birth city of Delos or if it was dedicated to Dionysus, the Greek God of wine who was celebrated by the people of Naxos. Archaeologists determined from the surviving foundations the temple would have measured 181 feet long by 80 feet wide.

Naxos Island, Cyclades, Greece

Plan Your Trip

Get Ready to Go!

Need some more help?


Read our Reservations & Travel Planning Tips guide.