Last Saturday, we had the chance to explore our island a little further. Our first stop was the abandoned village Anavatos.
Anavatos is a byzantine tower-village in the center of Chios. The village is built on a rocky elevation with steep sides and sheer cliffs on the South and West, so that it can only be approached from the North. If you don’t know it, you won’t see the village from far away as the houses have the same colour as the big rock. This natural defence makes it probable that the village was originally founded in this site for security reasons to control the west coast during the period of piracy. We loved to explore the village and enjoyed the beautiful view.
After that, we went further to Avgonima, which is another byzantine village. It was built in the same period as Anavatos and you will find the same type of houses there – stone houses, with small, high vertical windows for a better defence. Avgonima also has a beautiful view point from where you can see the sea and the village is still inhabited.
Our last stop was the UNESCO world heritage site Nea Moni. The monastery was built in the mid-11th century and is well known for its outstanding mosaics. We saw the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the Catholicon, the Cistern and the Chapel of Saint Panteleimon.
We loved to see and learn more about our island and look forward to our next excursions.
To see all pictures, go to our gallery!
