Inland Naxos, at a distance of 12km. from Chora of the island, dominates in the plain of Agiassos the Tower of Bazaios, former monastery of the Holy Cross. It is built at the foot of Mount Profitis Elias near the ruins of an older monastery, Kaloritsa (9th century) and at a distance of about one kilometer from the village of Sangri.
Due to its imposing form and its location at a key point of the road that connects the city of Naxos with Halki and Agiasso, the tower is one of the most recognizable post-Byzantine monuments of the island.
Similar tower-like complexes of more than thirty, are scattered throughout Naxos and date from the 13th century to the 18th century. Their spread is due on the one hand to the danger of piracy that plagued the Aegean since the Byzantine period, on the other hand to the feudal organization of power that prevailed in Naxos during the Venetian period (1207-1566) and continued during the Turkish occupation until recent times.
This tower is supposed to have been built around 1600 to function as an orthodox monastery of the Holy Cross with monks until the beginning of the 19th century, when it fell into decline. In 1834 the building and the lands he owned became the property of the then newly formed Greek state.
In the following decades of the 19th century, the Greek state rented the building and the estates, as it did with similar expropriated properties, in order to finance the first schools of public education with the income. At the end of the 19th century, the bankruptcy of the Greek state led to the sale of property, including the building complex of the old monastery, which was bought in ruins by Nikolaos Bazaios, a large landowner of the time. Since then, the tower bears the name of the last owner, as is customary in similar monuments of Naxos.
Since 2001, when the tower was completely restored with its extensions, by the last descendant of the owners' family, the monument remains open and accessible to the public during the summer, when it functions as a cultural center. The management and organization of the cultural events bearing the characteristic title "Naxos Festival" has been undertaken by a Cultural Non-Profit Organization in collaboration with similar private and public bodies, institutes, universities and museums in Greece and abroad.