Naxos: church nursing home officially inaugurated

With a service of blessing and in the presence of a large crowd, the Gkyleio-Martineio Church Nursing Home “Agios Panteleimon”, a facility of the Holy Metropolis of Paronaxia, was inaugurated on the evening of Thursday 20 August 2026 on Naxos. The ceremony was attended by Metropolitan Dorotheos II of Syros, Metropolitan Kallinikos of Paronaxia and Metropolitan Vartholomaios of Keramon. The ribbon was cut jointly by Metropolitan Kallinikos of Paronaxia, the benefactor and donor of the project Athanasios Martinos, and the mayor of Naxos and the Small Cyclades Dimitris Lianos. During the event the Metropolitan presented the donor with a commemorative Grand Cross and a commemorative plaque. The name of the institution, Gkyleio-Martineio, refers to the donors who supported its creation.

Also present at the inauguration were the deputy minister of Sport Yiannis Vroutsis, the Cyclades MPs Katerina Monogiou, Filippos Fortomas and Markos Kafouros, the prefect and deputy regional governor Yiannis Margaritis, as well as the head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades Dimitris Athanasoulis. The ceremony, however, did not mark the start of the unit’s operation: the nursing home has been taking in elderly residents since 11 May 2026. At the end of July 2026 it was housing 13 people, while its total capacity is estimated at roughly 20 to 25. The inauguration therefore concerned the formal handover of a facility that has already been through its first months of operation. The presence of government, parliamentary and local-government figures at the same ceremony gave the event the character of wider institutional recognition for a facility created with private funding and run under the Church’s responsibility.

For Naxos, the largest island of the Cyclades in area, having an organised care facility for the elderly on the island itself changes things for families who until now had to look for solutions off Naxos. The question raised publicly at the ceremony itself did not concern the building, but its endurance: Athanasios Martinos, who funded the project, openly called on the Municipality and the State to support the facility’s operation. The cost of running a care unit day to day — staff, meals, medical cover — is continuous and is not covered by the initial donation. Care for the elderly in island areas is directly linked to the ability of communities themselves to keep their people close by, without moving them to larger urban centres. The donor chose to raise the issue publicly, in front of representatives of the government and of local government.

The wording of the appeal itself shows that the question of funding the operation remains open. The day’s announcements do not indicate whether any specific form of support has been agreed by the Municipality of Naxos and the Small Cyclades or by central government, nor whether there is a timetable for that. Nor has it been announced when the unit is expected to reach full capacity or on what criteria admissions are made. The development adds to a series of local infrastructure measures on the island, such as the strengthening of fire cover with a new water tanker, and will be judged in practice by whether the facility can operate steadily all year round. Until then, the unit continues to operate with the 13 residents recorded at the end of July 2026.