Sitting offshore from the island of Naxos in the Cycladic archipelago, the Temple of Apollo or Portara is an unfinished temple that faces towards Delos, the birthplace of the Ancient Grecian god Apollo. In ancient times the site was connected to the larger island of Naxos but is now a small islet known as Palatia connected to Naxos via a manmade causeway. Conceived by the tyrant Lygdamis, the temple was intended to be the largest and most glorious building in all of Greece. However, Lygdamis was overthrown before the temple could be completed in 506 BCE, resulting in the abandonment of the site. The temple was later converted into a church in the 5th and 6th centuries, but by the time the island of Naxos came under Venetian and Ottoman rule, the church was dismantled. The only part of the structure that remains today are parts of the foundation and the large monumental doorway. The island features heavily in Greek mythology and according to legend.