The main city, also called Chios, is built in a narrow plain with low hills
opposite to the Minor Asian coast, in the same place where the ancient city
was found. Today, it is a commercially active and lively city, with buildings
of recent construction of more than one floor. However, the old flavor can
still be noticed since big parts of the Genoese fortress with houses of the
Ottoman period are conserved in good conditions, although this Byzantine fortress
of the 10th century A.D. had to be repaired by various following
conquerors. The main entrance and the western wall show Occidental signs and
blazons, while some parts of the 60 meters width ditch surrounding the fortress
are also preserved. It was built in the Byzantine period and constituted
the the administrative centre of the island. It enjoyed a great
development during the Genovese governance. It was an example of a
Renaissance-type city. Its walls resisted numerous attacks from Genovese,
Venetians and Turks. You will also find the "Justiniani" Museum for
Exhibitions and other appreciable Byzantine monuments, as for example,
the Saint George Church.
Outside the fortress, in the central square of Vounaki,
a mosque houses the Byzantine Museum. This central square "Vounaki" has
an admirable garden with the ruins of a church dating from the first
Christian years and with various statues of well-known
Chioansm, especially Constantine Canaris, a great fighter of the Greek
Revolution in 1821. You will also find an outside café and a
summer-cinema.
The Homerian Cultural Centre organises painting and sculpture
exhibitions, theatre representations, concerts, interesting speeches and
conferences. The Art Gallery, installed in the former Baths of the city,
hosts very interesting collections.
For your walks in the commercial part of the town, you can use
the central street and walking area of "Aplotaria", as a point of
orientation. "Aplotaria" comes from the verb "aplono", meaning to spread
out, because the salesman laid out their products in front of their
shops. On your right and on your left, you will find little paths with
hundreds of shops and a great variety of products. At the end of the "Aplotaria"
street, the Chian Maritime Museum is hosted in a neoclassical building,
where you discover Chios' great maritime tradition, known throughout the
world by its Ship-owners which control an important part of the world
commercial shipping.
If you continue walking on the F. Argenti Street, you will find
the Chios Cathedral and on its opposite, the historical High School.
Further down is the library "Adamantios Korais" (famous University
Professor in Paris), one of the biggest and most imporant in whole
Greece, which was considered until the destruction of Chios in 1822 as
one of the main librairies of the Eastern Worl. Among its
book-collections you will see, in addition to some rare editions donated
by late Korais, other significant collections. It contains approximately
130.000 works. An important step to come to a full understanding if
Chios' history, is the visit of the Archeological Museum of Chios, next
to the Aegean University. Significant discoveries of the pre-historical,
ancient and classical periods from excavations in various sites of the
island are presented in the museum.
Once
visited the town of Chios, it is worth to make an excursion to other villages
such as Karyes. Ten kilometers from there stands Nea Moni, a monastery of
the 11th century with spectacularly beautiful mosaics, ones of
the best in Greece together with those in Dafnonas and Osiou Loukas.
On
the other hand, on the southern part of the island you will find some medieval
villages that you should not miss either, such as Mesta, Olympi and Pyrgi,
in the center of Mastichora. The most characteristic feature of these villages
is that their houses are built one attached to the other in a way that their
walls make up the village’s wall. Furthermore, the houses in Pirgi are engraved
with interesting gray and white decorative drawings. In the center of the
village, many small streets come out onto a picturesque square where it stands
the church of Aghioi Apostoli, decorated with beautiful murals. Outside the
village, in the southern coast of the island, in Kato Fana, lay the ruins
of holy Apollo. In Emborios, partly hidden under the sea, there are some remains
of what it used to be an ancient important commercial center of the Bronze
Age. The village has also a beach of black pebbles perfect for swimming.
The
road heading North passes from Vrontados, a municipality with rich villas
Towards the end of the settlement there stands the enormous historical rock
of Daskalopetra, from where Homer used to teach. Some taverns next to the sea will invite you to taste the local mezedes
and the typical drink ouzo. Near this site are the beaches Ormos
Lo and Daskalopetra. The Vrontados area is well-known through a custom
happening every year on Eastern, after the Announcement of the
Resurrection of the Christ. The so-called "Rouketopolemos" (fight of
fireworks), offers a fantastic spectacle every year and gets known in
the world through tv-news.
A complete highway system connects the city of Chios with the
64 villages (belonging to 8 communes) and the fabulous beaches of the
island.
