Church of St. Thomas

On Naxos, the Church of St. Thomas at Gyroulas stands on ground that has been sacred for millennia. A rural sanctuary to Demeter and Apollo rose here in the Late Archaic period, and worship continued through classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and late antique times before the site became a Byzantine church. The building preserves that long layering of ritual life, from ancient cult to Christian liturgy, and its protected status today honors a place where generation after generation returned to the same hallowed spot.