The ancient aqueduct is one of the most interesting sights to see in Naxos and at the same time a remarkable piece of ancient technology, which gave life to the city (Chora) and irrigated the fertile areas of the countryside, all with the minimum possible impact on the natural environment. Its accomplishment testifies to the existence of both substantial social unity and a central administration on the island. It is approximately 11 km long and was built in the 6th century BC, with the aim of transporting water from the rich springs of Flerio to the Chora of Naxos. It operated continuously until the 8th century AD.
The water was taken from a collecting basin, carved into the rock, which is today located under a traditional animal-driven pump-well, near the Sanctuary of the Springs and the Kouros of Flerio. Following a route through Agios Thalelaios, Aggidia and the Katsagra plain, it terminated in the capital, in the acropolis on the hill of Kastro (its oldest part), flowing into an above-ground, arched fountain-house in the area of the ancient city’s market, the ‘Trani Fountana’ (in its final manifestation). The last known section of the aqueduct has been located at Laoutes, on the outskirts of Chora; to date, no other sections of it within or without the city limits have been excavated.
The aqueduct, throughout its course from Flerio to Chora, runs constantly at the elevation demarcating the cultivated (lower) zone from the barren (higher) one, making it possible to irrigate crops all along its route, by using distribution tanks. A tunnel (230 m long) starts at the lowest point of the saddle of the Fleri basin: it has a sedimentation tank/shaft to collect debris, and the original domed entrance survives – later consolidated, during the Roman period, when the aqueduct was reconstructed. These features are similar to those seen in the tunnel of with the Eupalinos in Samos, and so indicative both of the relations between the tyrant of Naxos, Lygdamis and the tyrant Polycrates of Samos, and of the ties between Naxos and Megara, where Eupalinos came from.
The ancient work consists of a system connected clay pipes. The clay pipes were replaced from time to time, as sediments built up in them that sometimes obstructed the flow of water. During Roman times, a radical reform was carried out: the original route was maintained, but a stone canal made of limestone and lime mortar was built. The canal was set underground in some areas and above ground in others; more rarely and at intervals it was replaced by a simple trench cut in the soft natural rock and lined with mortar. In the 4th century AD, the old Roman channel was replaced by a new one, similar to the first, which remained in use until the end of the device’s operation, in the 8th century AD.
The ancient aqueduct was excavated and put into shape (1997-2010) by the University of Athens, with the assistance of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades (also responsible for its operation); the work was funded by the South Aegean Regional Operational Programme. Residents and visitors of Naxos can enjoy restored sections of the aqueduct at selected points, some of which are located on the island’s main road: namely in Flerio (at the entrance to the aqueduct’s tunnel), in Katsoprini, in Leftera and Aimazos, in Perdikia (Louri), in Farangas, in Agios Thalelaios and Agios Stefanos (where the basilica of the same name is also located).
