«Passaggio a Nasso» (PERASMA STIN NAXO): I EIKONA TIS NAXOU TON 17o AIONA SE MIA ITALIKI TAXIDIOTIKI MARTIRIA GIA TO AIGAIO

This essay aims to offer a contribution in the way the island of Naxos was seen and described in a travel narrative to Italian readers in the second half of the 17th century. Firstly, it discusses the origin of the attraction of Eastern Mediterranean countries and Greece for both European travellers and readers, focussing on the “teacher” role of the writer-traveller and his capacity to reach a wider audience due to the boom of the printed book market. Secondly, the essay considers the role of the Congregation De Propaganda Fide in the stimulation of knowledge about the Aegean islands. This was particularly due to the numerous reports sent by apostolic visitors and missionaries from those areas to Rome, concerning the life of the local Catholic communities. It is precisely one of these accounts, written by the monsignor Giuseppe Sebastiani, that is analysed in the third part of this paper, looking for the way Naxos was experienced and known. After describing the most characteristic features of the island, this last part examines the crucial role of Naxos both in the balance of Mediterranean power and in the Catholic Aegean Sea, where it represented one the highest example to be followed in the management of Catholic-Orthodox environments.