Avaton 1739 is an ‘’All Day Café & Wine Bar’’ located on the roof of an Old Monastery, the Old Monastery of Ursulines and the School of Ursulines of Naxos. The stone walls of the Monastery surround the borders of the Venetian Castle built by Markos Sanoudos in 1207, founding the Duchy of Aegean on the island of Naxos. Venetian Sanoudos conquered 17 Aegean Islands and established himself on the largest island of the Cyclades.
In the building, many museum areas are hosted such as the old kitchen of the Ursulines as well as the Archaeological Museum of Naxos which is considered to be the second most important Archaeological Museum in Greece in terms of archaeological finds of Cycladic Culture.
The building bordering the Old Monastery of Ursulines is the Old Monastery of the Jesuits who settled on Naxos and later evolved into the School of Commerce where Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek novelist, poet and playwright studied. He is considered to be one of the most important contemporary Greek literaries and the most translated literary abroad.
In the Old Monastery of the Ursulines School, young girls at the time had the opportunity to educate themselves and to carry out great charitable work. Only women were allowed in the Monastery; it was enclosed, an abbey- which is the exact meaning of the word “Avaton”.
The building is located a few meters away from the Catholic Church of Naxos and the Catholic Archdiocese. Access to the building is either from the elevator or the narrow alleys of the Castle which are worth exploring.
