Tragea, a fertile plain home to twelve villages, houses approximately 30 of the Aegean’s most significant Byzantine churches, preserving Byzantine frescoes from the 6th to the 15th centuries. This region is often referred to as the “Mistras of Naxos“. Some of the key monuments include: Panagia Drosiani, one of the oldest and most prominent churches on Naxos, Panagia Protothroni in Halki (6th-7th centuries), Saint George Diasoritis with its esteemed frescoes, the earliest of which date back to the 11th century, and others spanning the 12th and 13th centuries.

Equally important is the Byzantine Panagia Damiothissa, Saint John in Kerami (13th century), and the Holy Apostles Metochiou, a Byzantine temple of substantial architectural merit: it’s the only one on Naxos with a two-story structure (presumably a side chapel). Frescoes from the 12th or 13th century have been preserved, discovered beneath the lime.