Apirantos, one of the island's most beautiful villages, is built in the heart of the highlands of Naxos and is rich in history and tradition. It seems untouched by time as it preserves its unspoiled traditional character, and impresses with its medieval architecture. Stone and marble dominate the architecture of the village; these ma­terials have been primarily used by artisans to create masterpieces which decorate houses, towers, streets and squares. Α lot of scholars in the fields of science, art and politics were born in the village (Petros Protopapadakis, Dialehti Zevgoli-GI­ezou, Petros Glezos, Manolis Glezos, Grigoris Zevgolis etc).

Cars are prohibited in the main street of the village, so you have another reason to walk in the picturesque marble stone pavements and under the arches while ad­miring the magnificent view to the mountains, the Venetian towers, the Byzantine churches and the stone houses, all of them constituting characteristic samples of the fortification architecture dating to the years of Venetian rule.

Visit the impressive Zevgoli tower (dated from the 17th century) which is located on the hill close to the entry of the village; then, continue straight ahead and stop at the central square for coffee or lunch under the shadow of the big plane tree; ascend toward the Bardani tower and meet the locals who have a charac­teristic temperament and a Cretan accent. Four museums operate in Apirantos: the Archaeological Museum, the Folk Art Museum, the Geological Museum and the Museum of Natural History which is defιnitely worth a visit.

11 kilometres east of Apirantos is located the coastal settlement of Mout­souna. This used to be in the past the place where the mined emery was carried to by the overhead railway in order to be loaded in the ships.