Anavatos is a deserted medieval mountain village in the centre of Chios island. It is reachable via a lonely road going up and down the mountains, passing by the monastery Nea Moni which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and crossing forests and extremely dry areas with barely any vegetation where some goats look for food.
Our first view on the village was from a look-out point on the opposite side of a dry riverbed. The village perfectly fitted into the rocky landscape and the stone houses built on a cliff were well hidden. This was also the reason why Anavatos was an important refuge during the Greek independent war and the massacre of Chios. The up to three storeys high narrow buildings stand so close together that only small passages run between them. A stone road leads to the fortress in the centre of the village, which is one out of few restored buildings. Many houses only consist of little more than some walls and a large cairn. On the one hand it was sad to see how little is left of this historically important site but on the other hand it does make it look even more authentic and exploring the ruins still allows to get a feeling for the village. While walking around the village we could see the houses only had tiny windows and arched ceilings. They were built out of stone and earth which is why so many of them already fell apart when the earth got washed out.
The remaining impression we got from visiting the village is that of a ghost town shaped by history.
To see all pictures, go to our gallery!
