On Sunday, we paid a visit to one of the most beautiful and well preserved medieval villages of Chios, Mesta. Mesta is located in the south of the island and is part of the Mastic Villages or Mastichochoria (Μαστιχοχώρια), a group of villages known for the production of Mastic, a resin that comes from the mastic tree and is only produced in Chios, being a major part in the island’s economy.
An hour ride from Vrontados took us through the south of the island, where we could see part of the identity of the island, with fields of mastic and olive trees, ruins of medieval castles and villages like Armolia, filled with beautiful pottery, Olympi, a 13th century medieval village, or Pyrgi, another picturesque medieval village with facades that make it unique.
Once we arrived to Mesta, it felt like we had traveled back in time. The village was created in the 12th century during the Byzantine period when the inhabitants of the surrounding villages gathered to be protected from pirate raids. This is the reason that explains its special architecture. There are only three points of entry to the city, and the houses, that are built next to each other, form a perfect fortification where the outside houses protect the inside ones, and so on. While we walked through the streets, we thought of ourselves as pirates and saw how difficult it must have been for them to siege the city. We also observed many details that could tell us how the people defended themselves back then, like the small bridges that lead from one house to another, making it the perfect escape technique. Even though it sometimes felt like we were walking through a labryinth where we were easily getting lost, it helped us to see different and more hidden parts of the village because the streets are full of small details that made us understand more the lifestyle of the people of Mesta.
After traveling through multiple of those narrow streets, we discovered the right path and we found ourselves in the center of the village, where we saw the beautiful square filled with people enjoying the atmosphere and having a cup of coffee. Next to the square was the amazing church of Taxiarches, Ιερός Ναός Ταξιαρχών, built in the mid 19th century. It’s the biggest church in Chios and one of the biggest of Greece, and it’s located where the central tower of the medieval city used to be. We went inside of the church and we got the opportunity to admire how a Greek orthodox church is, paying special attention to the beautiful ceiling and the altarpiece in the back, filled with ornaments.
At noon it was time to head home and we said goodbye to the beautiful village of Mesta promising to come back for more. It was an amazing experience, especially thanks to our director who made the trip possible and explained many interesting details of both the island and the village to us.
