Mýli
The area of Flerio and Myli, the straggling village along the valley-side to its north, is remarkably rich in springs, as the name meaning ‘mills’ implies. The springs were used to supply the city of Naxos from as early as the turn of the 5th century bc. This involved the construction of an ancient aqueduct, in the form mostly of a superficial, constructed gulley, almost 11km in length. At an early point of its course, a tunnel was excavated: nothing as bold as the 1km tunnel of Eupalinos of Samos through the heart of the mountain was attempted here, but even so it is a notable piece of Archaic engineering. The entrance to the tunnel, refaced in stone in Roman times, can be seen by following the stone-paved path—which begins by running parallel, and just below, the asphalt road—north round the right-hand side of the valley. The aqueduct’s course, which is detectable only in occasional stretches, lay past Aghios Thalelaios, Angidia, Aghios Stephanos Fraron, and thence to the east side of the hill of Kastro at Chora. The path leads for several kilometres amongst walled and terraced fruit orchards, and stone houses: the sound of water running is never distant, and there are frequent cascades. It constitutes one of the island’s most delightful *walks.
Naxos Island is part of the Cyclades Island Group, Greece.