It is a unique historical monument with spectacular biblical views inside and out.
Rome has its own Colosseum and Naxos also has its own magnificent building, the Colosseum with its rich history is an impressive complex.
Not far down the road between the villages of Ano Potamia and Melanes, 2km down, are the ruins of Kalamitsia, founded by a local Jesuit monk, Roberto Sauze, around 1670 and built on the ruins of an old Venetian mansion. It was used more as a resting place for the order and its guests than as a strictly run monastery.
Its marvelous design, elegance and luxurious style evoked strong reactions from the inhabitants of the time, as this stunning splendid luxury was contrasted with the supposedly austere life of the monks.
A distinct blend of Western and vernacular architecture, it includes many rooms, a chapel, ancillary buildings such as a dovecote, stables, cells and an olive mill, as well as a huge garden with terraces, supporting walls, cisterns and flights of stairs. Visitors can also see a giant fireplace, which indicates that the kitchen and laundry rooms were located here.
The low chapel is surprisingly modest, while the impressive arcaded refectory has three lancet windows overlooking former gardens with palms and cypresses sticking out from tangled blackberry bushes.
A wide central staircase leads down to a cistern in the basement with a still-flowing spring or, more excitingly, to the roof terrace where the view is magnificent.
The palace is in ruins and is fully accessible at all hours of the day.
Since the building has not been restored, caution is required during your visit.
Be sure to visit this place while on the island of Naxos!