About
Merichas is a wild south-coast bay, not the harbour. The cliffs here drop about 150 metres into the sea; south-coast boat trips from Agios Georgios often pass them, and sometimes pause in the cove.
There is no village on the beach. Come by boat, and time the ride home.
On the island
More attraction listings on Irakleia
Agios Athanasios
The chapel of Agios Athanasios stands on the road that climbs inland from the harbour toward a third hamlet of the same name. The white church is about two hundred metres before the last houses; the settlement took its name from it. Those houses are mostly empty now — some used as sheepfolds. A marked path starts at the far end and climbs toward Seladi and the cave of Agios Ioannis. A quiet stop on the way inland: no ticket, no café.
Alimia Plane Wreck
In the bay at Alimia lie the remains of a German Arado Ar 196 — a small seaplane used for shipboard reconnaissance in the Second World War. Island guides and dive write-ups place the wreck here after a fight with British aircraft in September 1943; the crew was pulled from the water. On a calm day you can swim or snorkel out from the beach, or come by boat on a south-coast trip from Agios Georgios. The airframe sits in shallow, clear water.
Cave of Agios Ioannis
The cave of Agios Ioannis is a limestone system on the southwest of Irakleia, reached on foot from Panagia along a rocky ridge (about an hour, a little over two kilometres). It is widely described as the largest cave in the Cyclades: a low entrance, then chambers of stalactites and stalagmites, and further in a small lake. Local walks still treat the neighbouring void as the Cave of the Cyclops. Go with someone who knows the route. The mouth is easy to miss — a tree, a bell the guide rings — and you crawl the first metres. On the eve of 29 August, St John’s day, the first chambers are lit with candles for an evening service.
Chapel of Profitis Ilias
Irakleia’s Profitis Ilias is a small blue-and-white church on a rise about a kilometre south of Panagia, at around 320 metres. From the terrace you look down on the village, with Naxos to the north and the rest of the Small Cyclades beyond. The usual way is the marked path that starts below the water tank in Panagia: follow it, then take the signed turn up to the chapel. Wind and the view are the point.