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Naxos and Lesser Cyclades (Municipality, Greece)

Flag of Naxos and Lesser Cyclades - Image by Tomislav Šipek, 9 April 2019

Presentation of Naxos and Lesser Cyclades
Flag of Naxos and Lesser Cyclades
Former municipalities
- Drymalia
- Naxos

See also:

Presentation of Naxos and Lesser Cyclades

The municipality of Naxos and Lesser Cyclades (Νάξος και Μικρές Κυκλάδες, 18,864 inhabitants in 2011; 49,580 ha) was formed in the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities of Donousa (Δονούσα, 167 inh.), Drymalia (Δρυμαλία, 6,099 inh.), Irakleia (Ηρακλειά, 151 inh.), Koufonisia (Κουφονήσια, 366 inh.), Naxos (Νάξος, 12,089 inh.), and Schoinousa (Σχοινούσα, 256 inh.).

During the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, Naxos dominated commerce in the Cyclades. In 502 BC the inhabitants of Naxos rebelled against their masters in the Persian Empire; this revolt led to the larger Ionian Revolt, and then to the Persian War between Greece and Persia.
In the 4th century, Athens and Sparta clashed over control of Naxos. While a member of the Island Commonwealth, Naxos fell in succession under the influence of the Ptolemies of Egypt, the Macedonians and the Rhodians. After 41 BC Naxos was part of the Roman province of the islands which was governed from Rhodes.
After the Byzantine era, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, with a Latin Emperor under the influence of the Venetians established at Constantinople, the Venetian Marco Sanudo conquered the island and soon captured the rest of the islands of the Cyclades, establishing himself as Duke of Naxia, or Duke of the Archipelago. Twenty-one dukes in two dynasties ruled the Archipelago, until 1566; Venetian rule continued until 1714.
The Ottoman administration remained essentially in the hands of the Venetians; Turkish influence on the island was slight. Turkish sovereignty lasted until 1821, when the islands revolted; Naxos finally became a member of the Greek state in 1832.

Olivier Touzeau, 22 May 2014

Flag of Naxos and Lesser Cyclades

The flag of Naxos and Lesser Cyclades (photo) is white with the municipal emblem.
The emblem features a topographic representation of the municipality in the Aegean Sea (blue background).

The big, golden-yellow disc represents the island of Naxos (municipal units [former municipalities] of Drymalia and Naxos).
The smaller diks represent the Lesser Cyclades, each forming a municipal unit, from south-east to north-east:
- Irakleia (green);
- Schoinousa (black);
- Koufonisia (red);
- Donousa (purple).
Keros, the biggest of the Lesser Cyclades by its area, is not represented. The island is located east of Koufonisia, on which it administratively depends. No longer populated, it is of forbidden access but for archeological missions.

Tomislav Šipek & Ivan Sache, 13 April 2019

Former municipalities

Drymalia

Former flag of Drymalia - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 18 September 2013

Drymalia covers about 70% of the island of Naxos, in the eastern, northern, and southern parts, sharing it with the community of Naxos. The seat of the municipality was in Chalkeio, but the largest town is Filoti.
The flag of Drymalia (Kokkonis website) was very light pink with the municipal emblem, off-centered.

Olivier Touzeau, 18 September 2013

Naxos

Former flag of Naxos - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 22 May 2014

The flag of Naxos (Kokkonis website; photo) was white with the municipal emblem, wich shows Portara, a huge marble gate and the single remaining part of an unfinished temple of Apollo of 530 BC, and the Sphinx offered by the inhabitants of Naxos for the temple of Apollo in Delphi.
The new municipality uses a different emblem (image), but there is no evidence of ny evidence of a new flag with this new logo.

Olivier Touzeau, 22 May 2014