Naxos land is rich in high quality marble. Important ancient quarries have been found between the valley of Flerio, Melanes and Potamia. There have been discovered traces of habitation and quarrying, dating back to the 3rd millennium B.C. The unfinished colossal statues of Kouros stand near the quarries, where the ancient quarrymen and sculptors left them, in gullies and slopes and are really impressive.
The Kouros found in the gully of Flerio (you can get there after 5min walk on the road) is 5.5m long ans was sculptured in the archaic frontal “inert” attitude. It dates back in 570 B.C., when the nobles of Naxos ordered the quarries monumental artworks. Just like the rest sculptures, they were first processed in the quarry and then transferred to the workshops to take their final form. The specific statue seems to have been broken during transportation and abandoned in the woods.
A little higher up the slope of the ravine there is another Kouros (researchers say it may be a Kori, which means daughter, because of the hair) with broken legs and processed to a greater extent than the one in the gully. The third Kouros is found on the main road, above the village Apollonas. It is tall, archaic and is assumed to be a statue of Dionysus.
