3 Best Sights in Sangri, The Cyclades

Above the village of Sangri, you can make out the ruins of Kastro Apilarou, the castle vanquished by the Italian conquerer, Marco Sanudo. The castle was the defensive stronghold for the region and held out for two months, but locals today still say its a bit of a mystery about who the Apilarou family really was before Sanudo came and took over. If you do make the tough climb to view it up close, you'll be greeted with a fantastic view of the Naxian plains.

This marble Archaic temple, circa 530 BC, was lovingly restored by German archaeologists during the 1990s. Demeter was a grain goddess, and it's not hard to see what she is doing in this beautiful spot. There is also a small museum here (admission is free). The 25-minute walk here is splendid.

The name Sangri is a corruption of Sainte Croix, which is what the French called the town's 16th-century monastery of Timios Stavros. The town is actually three small villages spread across a plateau. During the Turkish occupation, the monastery served as an illegal school, where children met secretly to learn the Greek language and culture.