Naxos - Exclusive Marble Quarry Tour with Marble Expert

The event : A custom Naxian food & wine pairing evening in a local vineyard, put together by Eleni and her business partner Konstantinos from the CAVA WINE - OINOCHOROS wine bar in Naxos town The occasion: A significant birthday for me! The group of 10: My family, incl. husband Sam, 2 older teens ( 16 & 19 ) plus old friends from Vienna with their boys of 19 & 11, and one couple from Cyprus. This was a standout experience from my celebration of a significant birthday with family & close friends here in Naxos. Normally, such an experience is done at full moon, but the winds were too high then, so we were able to do it a few days later. Kostantinos was also gracious in working with my budget for the evening. The vineyard is called the Tranampelo Vineyard, near Glynado - Κτήμα Τρανάμπελο - and we learnt all the family history behind the site. Winegrower Konstantinos is a fount of knowledge, and guided us on a tour of the various plantings after a welcome glass of sparkling wine. We also got to see the original vines planted by his grandfather. Everything is as organic, biodynamic etc as possible. Herbs & plants which discourage pests are grown near the vines. And the majority of the vegetables & fruit came from the organic garden on site too! Plate after plate arrived to pair with different wines - natural, organic, unusual. The food quality & love gone into the preparation of each dish was only fantastic. And more than generous - the famous Greek hospitality in action! Everyone said how special the experience was. It was also lovely to meet at a pick-up point and be taken by the Filema tours minivan up to the vineyard. Could not recommend this experience more if you are lucky enough to happen upon a time when Eleni & Konstantinos can put it together for you. If not, I have no doubt that Eleni's food or marble tour would be equally outstanding. And if you can't make that, you HAVE to pay a visit to Konstantinos' wine bar as mentioned above, where you might have the good fortune to run into his very distinguished-looking Chemist Dad - who of course brings that expertise to bear in the vineyard!

This was such an incredible tour all the way around. Eleni was so clearly passionate and knowledgeable about Naxos and it made for such an insightful and enjoyable tour. It was such an amazing day getting to see everything from how the marble is pulled from the quarry all the way through to how it is turned by a craftsman into incredible works of art. Cannot recommend Philema's tours enough!!

This was the greatest travel experience we have encountered.Eleni(our guide, a Naxos native)is articulate, enthusiastic and has a great sense of humor. We were picked up at our hotel and enjoyed a pleasant informative ride to Karpontinbrothers marble quarry.I am an amateur stone carver from America so I have specific interest in carving marble. However, make no mistake,this is an amazing opportunity to see how marble is extracted from the mountain. Marble itself is millions of years old. It has been used for Centuries. The Naxos marble is Simply a beautiful white,it glistens with a hint of translucency. Yanni, the quarry owner fully explains the technique of removing and transporting the stone which has been ordered. After the quarry tour and a bite to eat we arrived at the workshop of renowned sculptor Nikolaos G. Verykokkos. He provided a synopsis of the art of carving stone all with handmade tools. Finally he patiently guided us through the carving process. We actually created our own piece With our hands his hand,hammer and chisel. Amazing.