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Modern Description: Zas is the highest peak of the Cyclades, sacred to Zeus, with whom its modern name is cognate. The ancient name Drios, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus in connection with the myth of Ariadne, may refer to a different mountain or be a scribe's error from a previous mention of a mountain of that name. The views from the summit are amazing, as testified by a Latin inscription cut on a boulder 13 m south of the survey marker, where the Marquis de Nointel recorded counting 60 islands in the Aegean on his visit of November 24, 1673.
The road for the Cave of Zas branches west 1km after Filoti (20km), as you head towards Apeiranthos. It finishes after 1.3km at the plentiful springs of sweet water at Ariés which rise in a break of plane-trees offering stunning views as far as the sea to the southwest, along a gorge scattered with oak, cypress and olive trees. From the spring it is a 25-minute steep climb up a torrent bed to the cave which lies to the left just above another, weak spring. The combination of nearby fresh-water and protection which the cave affords has appealed since earliest times, when Neolithic man both dwelled and buried his dead within this cave. The remarkable finds from this period in the cave have included clay seal-impressions— objects which suggest the evolving need to identify property which was personal to one family or group. Copper tools were also uncovered. But the most dramatic find here has been a small beaten gold strip (now in the Naxos Archaeology Museum, see above), dating from the 5th/4th millennium BC, which indicates probable trade communication with the Northern Aegean and Macedonia. The piece is perforated at its four corners, as if for stringing as an item of jewellery. Throughout the Bronze Age the cave continued to be used; the low transverse wall inside the entrance to the cave dates from this period.
From the cave, the summit of Zas (999m) can be reached in a further 45 minutes. This approach is particularly steep.
An easier walk to the summit is from the chapel of Agia Marina on the saddle between Filoti and Danakos. Be alert on the right of the trail about 700 m in for the boundary inscription of Zeus Melosios. Both trails are well-marked, but abounding in difficult rocks. Good footwear, hats, water necessary.
Wikidata ID: Q26831020

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)

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