Around Sangrí
The road continues, through undulating country with good views of the mountains, to the scattered communities of Kato Sangri (10.5km) and Ano Sangri (12km), near to which are two important churches:
*Aghios Artemios (11) (1.5km east of Kato Sangri; visible in the valley from the Chalki/Sangri road, c 1.5km north of the Bazaios Tower and 3km south of Chalki. Opening to be arranged with Ephorate.) An ancient single-aisled domed church of moving simplicity which conserves bands of aniconic decoration in the vault of the sanctuary dating from the 9th century. Some elements of the decoration imitate marble revetment, others have the appearance of decorative ceramic tiles. In the border of the area of spiral volutes is an inscription in red: ‘Remem ber, O Lord, thy servant, Ikonomos, whose name thou know est. Amen.’ It should be noted that everything is hand-drawn, with no stencils or mechanical aids.
Aghios Nikolaos (12) (signed, south from the eastern end of Ano Sangri: open Mon–Fri 10–2.30 in summer. Otherwise opening to be arranged with Ephorate.) This has well-preserved areas of painting dating from 1270 in the interior, according to the inscription on the arch of the conch. Striking use is made of azurite and ?cinnebar: in places, finer details have been added a secco{/tip with a pasty, lead-white. In two of the pendentives of the dome, the Evangelists are represented by a complex motif of tetramorphs—the sacred symbols of the Gospel writers. In the middle of the north wall, lower layers of two earlier paint campaigns can be seen, depicting the Virgin and Child; the details reveal them to have been of considerable sophistication. Fine scenes of the Baptism—in which a merman symbolizes the River Jordan—and of the Nativity decorate the sanctuary vault.
Naxos Island is part of the Cyclades Island Group, Greece.