Bazeos Tower: A Former Orthodox Monastery and Cultural Center on Naxos
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Greece
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Ottoman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Fortified Monastery
On this page6 sections
History
Bazeos Tower is a former Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Holy Cross on Naxos, Greece, probably built around 1600 during the post-Byzantine period, the history of Byzantine lands and successor communities after the Byzantine Empire. Monks lived there until the early nineteenth century, when the monastery entered a period of decline. Today, the protected building is known for its later role as a restored cultural center.
Towers in Venetian and Ottoman Naxos
Bazeos Tower belongs to a wider group of more than 30 comparable tower complexes distributed across Naxos. Dating from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries, these fortified residences and institutional compounds reflect the danger of piracy in the Aegean, which had affected the region since the Byzantine period. Their distribution also relates to the feudal organization of power under the Duchy of Naxos, a Latin-ruled polity in the Aegean. Naxos remained under Venetian rule from 1207 to 1566 before passing under Ottoman control, and this political structure continued to shape the island into the modern period.
Transfer to the Greek State and Private Ownership
In 1834, the monastery and its associated lands became property of the newly established Greek state. During the following decades, the state leased the complex and its estates, using the income to help finance the first public schools. State bankruptcy at the end of the nineteenth century then led to the sale of public assets. Nikolaos Iak. Bazeos, a major landowner of the period, purchased the former monastery in a ruined condition. The tower later took his name, following a naming tradition used for comparable monuments on Naxos.
Restoration and Cultural Use
In 2001, the tower and its annexes received comprehensive restoration carried out by the last descendant of the owning family. The complex subsequently became a cultural center and hosted the Festival of Naxos during the summer season. The festival operated through a nonprofit cultural organization working with public and private bodies, institutes, universities, and museums in Greece and abroad.
Remains
Bazeos Tower stands inland on Naxos, in the plain of Agiassos at the foot of Mount Prophet Elias. The complex occupies a prominent position along the road linking Naxos town with Chalki and Agiassos Beach, about 12 kilometres from Naxos town and approximately 1 kilometre from Sangri village. It consists of a tower house, a fortified residence combining defensive features with domestic or institutional accommodation, together with associated annexes.
Tower House and Annexes
The tower house and its annexes form the surviving monastery complex. Their imposing form and position have made the site one of Naxos’s recognizable post-Byzantine monuments. The complex stands near the ruins of the earlier Kaloritsa monastery, dated to the ninth century. Restoration in 2001 gave the spaces their present use as a cultural center while preserving the building as a protected monument in Greece.
