Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
North of Chios Town about 2km,
Vrontados
is the site of Homer's legendary stone chair,
the
Daskalopetra
(in Greek, teacher's stone), a rock pinnacle close to the sea, an obvious
choice for holding class.
Immediately south of Chios Town is
Kampos
, a lush area with citrus trees, where
wealthy Genoese and Greek merchant families summered from the 14th century on-
wards. You can see elaborate gardens and high-walled mansions, some restored, others
crumbling. The handsome
Citrus Memories Museum
(
22710 31513;
www.citrus-chios.gr
;
Kambos;
10am-10pm Jun-Sep)
documents the agricultural base of this community
with summer concerts and art exhibits.
At the island's centre is
Nea Moni
(New Monastery; 8am-1pm & 4-8pm)
, a
World Heritage-listed 11th-century Byzantine monastery. Once one of Greece's richest
monasteries, Nea Moni attracted pre-eminent Byzantine artists to create the mosaics in
its
katholikon
(principal church). Disastrously, during the Greek War of Independence,
the Turks torched the monastery and massacred its monks. Another catastrophe occurred
with an 1881 earthquake that demolished the
katholikon
dome. Nea Moni is now a nun-
nery.
Another solemn site lies 10km northwest, at the end of a silent road.
Anavatos
, filled
with abandoned grey-stone houses and narrow stepped pathways, was built on a precipit-
ous cliff over which villagers hurled themselves to avoid capture during Turkish reprisals
in 1822. Nowadays, it's referred to as the 'ghost village'.
Of the quieter central-west-coast beaches, picturesque
Lithi
is most popular.
Sleeping
Spiti Elaionas
STUDIO $
( 22710 20002;
mano2@otenet.gr
; Kambos; d from €40)
Two traditional and beautifully
decorated stone houses, 300m from Karfas Beach in a quiet hillside setting, with great
views across to the Turkish coast.
Perleas Mansion
HISTORIC HOTEL $$$
(
22710 32217;
www.perleas.gr
; Vitiadou, Kampos; d/tr incl breakfast from €100/120;
)
The restored Perleas mansion offers seven well-appointed apartments. This relaxing es-
tate, built in 1640, exemplifies high Genoese architecture. The restaurant serves tradi-
tional Greek cuisine.
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