The region of Melanes was particularly important for the economy and culture of Naxos in ancient times. Especially the area around Flerio, rich in thick surface layers of good quality marble, was the cradle of the development of Greek marble architecture and plastic. Remains have been identified that testify to habitation and possibly marble quarrying as early as the 3rd millennium BC. The great heyday of the quarries of Melani was however noted in the 7th and 6th centuries. Some of the most impressive sculptures and buildings of these years in Naxos, Delos and other parts of Greece are connected with the work in the ancient quarries of the area, in which statues and other works are preserved unfinished, in various stages of processing.
At the same time, the area has rich water sources, which even today feed the rich vegetation of the place. In ancient times, an aqueduct about 11 kilometers long, an important technical project with many phases, transported water to the city of Naxos, ensuring its water supply. Already during its initial construction, it was necessary to pierce the mountain to the north of the Fleuri valley with a tunnel, for the maximum exploitation of the water, distributing it to all the fertile areas on its way to the city.
In a sanctuary in the area of the quarries and the ancient spring, a goddess of euphoria and hero patrons of the quarries, who were its main visitors, were worshipped. Worship began in this place during the 8th century BC, the heyday of the sanctuary occurs in the 7th and 6th centuries BC and coincides with the heyday of the exploitation of the marble quarries in the area. In the 8th century worship was served by a stone-built one-room building resting on an imposing marble mass, a leveled area next to it, an enclosure to the north and another auxiliary building with three rooms to the south, next to the entrance from the spring.
In the 7th century, a second larger one-room sacred building was erected next to the old one, new outdoor areas were arranged to the west of it, in two of which burnt sacrifices were offered, and the precinct expanded to the west and south. In the 6th century, after a disaster caused by the movement of the marble volume next to the oldest building, this building was rebuilt with a reduction in its width as an auxiliary to the second one, which acquired a semicircular desk inside.
The southern ancillary buildings are demolished and a short distance west of them a marble church is built oriented towards the old sacred buildings. The sanctuary functioned until the end of ancient times. The deity who was worshiped must have been a goddess of euphoria, but near her were probably honored -judging from an inscription from the area- the heroes Otos and Ephialtes, who had the power to move large stone volumes, as protectors of the quarries, who were the main visitors to the sanctuary. The excavation brought to light many of their half-finished or failed works. The importance of the sanctuary lies in this very particularity: that it brings us close to the work of the quarries and to the first steps of the evolution of the Greek marble art that began in this area.
The temple of the third phase of the sanctuary was made of marble. Its foundations, which have been preserved until the entablature, were made of large roughly worked blocks of marble that were cut in the area, while its superstructure was built with roughly squared blocks of marble. The roof was gabled, with marble tiles, of which many pieces have survived in the area. The disposition to use large stones in this small building is evident, which probably manifests the will of the builders to associate it with the heroes-protectors of the quarries who possessed the mythical power of moving large earth masses. The plinth with the circular socket in front of the temple supported a marble column like those found in the sanctuary, on which would have been placed a sculpted votive (small statue or sphinx).
In this area, where the rocky terrain falls steeply to the southeast, it was not necessary to define the sanctuary with an enclosure. To the left, immediately to the east of the northern entrance to the sanctuary, there was a small house, the remains of which were preserved at the level of its foundations. It probably functioned as a workshop for the production of simple ceramic utilitarian objects for the sanctuary (clay figurines, vases, etc.) from the 7th century onwards, judging by the traces of activity observed in its disturbed thin embankment. Another indistinct structure stood among the rocks.
From the plateau in front of the remains of this construction, the visitor can see high up on the opposite mountainside one of the most important points of intense ancient quarrying in the area and distinguish one of the two surviving ancient statues that were left unfinished on the spot.
Between 640 and 625 BC it was decided to build a second, larger cult building, which occupied a large part of the plain to the west of the older one. The plain extended slightly to the west, but others were created to the southwest. The construction material of the building was roughly worked marble stones. Some of this material was found covering the ruin. Particularly important is the element that is preserved on the facade of the new building, namely the monolithic marble threshold of the door, which preserves at both ends the traces of the support of the also monolithic pillars. This threshold has as its foundation two marble cubes at its ends. We have here the oldest, primitive example of a marble door, which later evolved into the Naxian buildings in Naxos and Delos into one of the most characteristic elements of monumental Ionian architecture.
The axis of the new edifice was placed on a place established by the cult, a pyre that had been offered to the deities of the sanctuary on the level that the building later occupied. Apparently already during its first period of operation this pyre remained visible or in some way displayed on the floor of its interior. After the remodeling of the complex of the two buildings in the 6th century, the fire place was covered by a pile of stones and a semicircular table was built around it. This configuration suggests the function of a chthonic mystery cult.
In the 7th BC century, two areas were created in the sanctuary, as outdoor enclosures, in which sacrifices were offered to the deities of the sanctuary. There were makeshift stoves in the corners. Shallow pits were dug in the ground, in which ashes and remains of the offerings (bones, broken vessels, pieces of copper objects, etc.) were collected. These materials were covered with thin slate slabs that were cut into the rocks of the eastern part and formed into a circular shape. . Offerings of this kind must have been made for a long time in the same place, for some of the deposits cover older ones. Sometimes bases of large clay vessels were used as covers for the offerings. A vase containing 94 goat ankles was discovered next to one of these circular slabs. These precincts originally had an entrance. Later, however, the entrance was blocked with a low wall, the premises therefore became unoccupied, i.e. unspoiled, and the existing offerings were preserved within them, but new ones were probably no longer offered. The entrance threshold is preserved under the wall of the later phase.
To the south of the areas with the offerings, an entrance corridor from the west was probably created during the third phase of the sanctuary's operation. The view of the entire sanctuary is remarkable, highlighting the circular layout of its facilities.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou