ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM MICHALIS BARDANIS
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Archaeological museum where you can discover objects of the Cycladic civilization from the surroundings of Apiranthos.
The Cycladic statuettes of Apiranthos (2700-2300 BC), with their primitive forms, are well known to specialists. Unfortunately, most of them have been looted and to see the most beautiful ones, you have to go... to the Louvre! We understand better why this small museum bears the name of Michalis Bardanis, great defender of the ancient heritage of Naxos. As in most archaeological museums of the islands, this one would clearly need a good dusting. This does not detract from the great rarity of some of the objects it possesses. Of the famous statuettes known as "schematic statuettes of Apeiranthos", only fragments remain here (feet, arms, torsos...). In fact, the two most interesting parts of the collection are the kantili of the protocycladic period (oil lamps carved in stone, so finely worked that the light can pass through) and, above all, the rock engravings from the hill of Koryfi t'Aroniou. Dating from 2700-2200 B.C., the latter were uncovered by Bardanis in 1962 in the southeast of the island. They are ten stones engraved in a primitive way representing horned animals, hunters, dancers and sailors on a surprising boat whose stern is surmounted by a vertical pole. These petroglyphs could come from a sanctuary. Unique in their kind, they are still little known to specialists. The rest of the museum is made up of objects of the Cycladic civilization coming from the surroundings of Apiranthos.
