We were all excited as we hopped into the car and started our road trip at 8.50am, covering mostly the mid to southern part of Chios, and visiting various villages, all with very different architectures and styles.
1st Stop : Avgonymon
Avgonymon is a small hill top village built in the 11th century (that is about 1,000 years ago!). Look at how well preserved the buildings are!
2nd Stop : Anavatos
Located just about 10 mins drive from Avgonymon, is an abandoned village, with stone houses built on a precipitous cliff.
Behind the reasons for abandonment is a solemn story, where villages hurled themselves over the cliff (450m above sea level) rather than be taken alive by Turkish during the Greek War of Independence in 1822.
3rd Stop : Nea Moni
This is a World Heritage site and is a sample of Byzantine architecture. It was built in the 11th century to commemorate a miraculous event of an icon of Virgin Mary before three shepherds.
I got lots of goose bumps when I saw this lining the wall of a small chapel within the Nea Moni compounds.
Apparently, during Greek War of Independence, Turks torched the monastery and massacred the 600 monks and 3,500 women and children who had seek refuge in the monastery.
4th Stop : Pyrgi
This is possibly my favourite place in Chios. This village is characterised with narrow streets lined with houses with facades that are beautifully decorated!
Apparently the decorated facades uses a technique called xysta, which requires coating the walls with a mixture of cement and black volcanic sand, painting over it with white lime and scraping off parts of the lime to reveal the grey below to create designs.
Just imagine the amount of effort painstakingly taken to do these houses!
Wish you could see these in person!
5th Stop : Mesta
A medieval castle town built in the 14th century with stone alleyways, enclosed by thick defensive walls. The interior was like a labyrinth as we walked through the different alleyways.
There is also a church of Taxiahorn for the Archangels Michael and Gabriel
Dinner : Kourounia
We ended the night at Alberto’s favourite dining spot which he will always visit when in Chios. It is called Arioysios, a small homely restaurant located in Kourounia with a nice outdoor seating area with good sunset views.
The food was marvellous as we stuffed ourselves with Moussaka and Germista (grilled tomatoes or eggplant or capsicum, stuffed with flavoured rice) and some other local delights. It was so good that we asked to take away extra portions of the Moussaka and Germista to be eaten on the boat over the next few days.
Reservations for the food is recommended!
Maybe I shall try to cook Germista when I am back in Singapore!
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