The small fertile valley where this temple is located has always been one of the most favourable areas for settlement on Naxos.

In the archaic period an important sanctuary grew up on the hilltop here for the worship of deities associated with the fertility of the earth.




The great significance of this find, constructed about 530 BC, is that it is a rare example of a marble temple of which more than 50 % of the ancient building material is preserved.

The temple gives unique information about ancient architecture. It gives unique information about the construction of the marble roof, about the early forms of the Ionic order, and about the curves and optical corrections similar to those observable in the Parthenon, but here a century earlier. It introduces constructions that are recognized as forerunners of classical Attic architecture.

When the reconstruction of The Temple of Demetra (close to the village of Sangri) is complete it will be one of the most complete and important Ionic monuments, comparable only with the temple of Aphea on Aegina.

Demetra Temple is the telesterion, designed expressly for the celebration of the mysteries. Well preserved also is a phase of its Christian period, when it was converted into a basilica.