[ Aug.2013 ] This is a photo of Poltara (Great Door) of Temple of Apollo, the symbol of Naxos.
This stands on a small island just next to Naxos main island called Palatia.
According to Greek Myth, Naxos is the island of Dionysus, the god of wine.
Prince Theseus succeeded to kill a monster, Minotaur, being helped by the Cretan princess Ariadne and because they fell in love each other, Theseus took Ariadne with him and came to Naxos.
Here, Dyonisus fell in love with Ariadne at first sight and whispered to Theseus while he was sleeping that Ariadne would cause some trouble and he had better go away without her.
So Theseus went away on his own, leaving Ariadne on this Palatia island.
The story after that is divided.
One is that she became to love Dyonisus, too and lived happily.
The other is that she could not forget Theseus and lived unhappily.
The Poltara was built as a part of a huge temple in the 6th century BC, but because of a war, the temple building stopped abruptly.
Other materials were used for building ordinary houses, but this Poltara was left here.
People think this is Temple of Apollo, not Dyonisus, because this gate is facing Delos where Apollo was born.
