AGIOS ARSENIOS (AGERSANI): A POTATO VILLAGE WITH A PIRATE LOOKOUT

Agios Arsenios, called Agersani by almost everyone who lives there, is one of the largest villages of western Naxos and one of the easiest to reach: it lies only six or seven kilometres from Chora, on the road toward the Livadi villages and the south-western beaches. It is not a village that appears on many postcards. It is a farming community of traditional houses and flower-filled courtyards, set on two hills with a river between them, with a handful of unusually old churches, a lookout tower from the days of pirates, and some of the island’s best potato fields on its doorstep. The two figures recorded for the 2021 census (717 and 814, apparently depending on how the settlement is counted) put the population at somewhere between 700 and 800, while older guides say about 1,000.

Two Names, One Village

The village is named after the chapel of Agios Arsenios, which was built before the settlement and still stands, but locals call it Agersani. Tourism sources report that the oldest known reference to the name is in a document from 1434 written by the then Duchess of Naxos, which mentions “the place of Gersani,” and that the present name was officially fixed only in 1940. According to the same sources, the village was first built in the Stelida area and was destroyed in raids during the Ottoman period, after which it moved to its present site; this is a local historical account rather than a well-documented event, so it should be treated as tradition. The place today is built on the slopes of two hills separated by a river, and it commands a good view of Agios Prokopios beach, the island’s small airport and, across the water, Paros.

The Churches: Agios Nikolaos and Agios Spyridon

The village’s most interesting building is the church of Agios Nikolaos, on a hilltop on the western side of the settlement. Island tourism information calls it the oldest church in the village and dates it to before 1660; other guides describe it as an 18th-century church that also functioned as a lookout tower, with dovecotes, when pirates sailed the Aegean. The two descriptions can probably be reconciled by a building that was altered over time, but sources do not agree, so the date is best given as 17th–18th century. It has three aisles, the centre one dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the left to Saint Nicholas and the right to the Holy Unmercenaries (Agii Anargyri). Its lintels carry coats of arms, and its carved wooden iconostasis, icons, liturgical vessels and books connected with Panagia Agersaniotissa are described as museum-quality. Access is reported as difficult for wheelchairs, and the church is not always open, so ask locally about opening times; the island’s listing records celebrations around 15 August, 1 July, 1 November and 6 December.

The main parish church today is Agios Spyridon, a large, recently renovated building in the heart of the village. Visitors who like a church-and-chapel circuit can add the small chapel of Agios Arsenios itself and the uninhabited monastery of Agios Ioannis Prodromos (St John the Baptist) in the surrounding countryside.

Fields, Windmills and Ancient Traces

The land around Agios Arsenios is among the most fertile on the island, and the well-known Naxos potatoes are grown here, alongside animal husbandry, especially cattle. Two old windmills stand on Stroumpoulas hill, the same hill at whose foot lies the ancient tower described in our guide to Vivlos. On Elliniko, a hill at the southern edge of the village, there are ruins of a fort; sources disagree on whether it is ancient or medieval, and both labels appear. At Petradia, a neighbourhood of Yria, traces of an ancient temple and fragments of pottery have been found, and the main sanctuary of Dionysus at Yria is only a few minutes away by car (see our guide to Glinado).

Visiting Agios Arsenios Today

The village is about 7 kilometres from Chora and is served by a regular public bus; it is on the same road that continues to the Livadi villages and to Pyrgaki. Park at the edge and walk: the streets are narrow, the houses are well kept, and the courtyards are famously full of flowers. An hour is enough to see the churches and the lanes, and a little longer if you walk out to the windmills. Because this is a living farming village, keep to the public lanes and give working vehicles room.

Nearby: Beaches and Neighbouring Villages

Some of the busiest and best-known beaches on the island, Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna and the long sweep of Plaka, are all close by, which makes Agios Arsenios a quiet place to see in the morning before a beach afternoon. Neighbouring villages include Glinado, Vivlos and Galanado, and Chora is described in our guide to Naxos Town. For the mountains, continue to Filoti and Apeiranthos.

Agios Arsenios will never be a headline stop, and that is its charm. It is a village that still works the land it stands on, with an old lookout tower, a church that predates 1660 by some accounts, a clutch of windmills on a hill and an easy hour’s walk through lanes full of flowers. If you are staying near Chora or Plaka, it is the sort of place to include on a slow morning.