The East and North Aegean - The Rough Guide to Greece - page 618

9 DAY TRIPS FROM HÍOS

The most popular boat excursions from the main port of Híos Town are to the nearby satellite
island of Inoússes (see p.630) and to the Turkish coast, as Psará is too far for a comfortable
day-trip. Trips to Inoússes usually depart twice a week, on Thursday and Sunday, at 8.30am,
returning by 6pm at a cost of €20. The longer excursions to Turkey leave daily at 8am for the
port of Çeşme , where an optional bus transfer takes you to the city of Izmir, returning by
7.15pm. Prices vary according to demand but are often as low as €35; Kanaris Tours at Leofóros
Egéou 12 ( T 22710 42490, W kanaristours.gr) sell tickets for both.

Híos Town
HÍOS TOWN , a brash, concrete-laced commercial centre with little predating the 1881
quake, will come as a shock after modest island capitals elsewhere. Yet in many ways it's
the most satisfactory of the east Aegean ports, with a large and fascinating marketplace ,
several museums , an old quarter and some good, authentic tavernas . Although a
sprawling place of about 30,000 souls, most things of interest lie within a few hundred
metres of the water, fringed by Leofóros Egéou.

Around the central platía
The town's small triangular central platía , officially Plastíra but known universally as
Vounakíou , lies only a block inland from the seafront, up by the main dock. To the
south extends the marvellously lively tradesmen's bazaar , where you can find
everything from parrots to cast-iron woodstoves. Inland to the west is the urban
sprawl's single lung, the attractively lush central park , whose most notable feature is
an Ottoman fountain.

Byzantine Museum
Opposite the Vounakíou taxi rank • Tues-Sun 8.30am-3pm • €3 • T 22710 26866
The refurbished Byzantine Museum , occupying the renovated old Mecidiye Mosque with
its leaning minaret, has a small but interesting collection, with sections on religious and
secular architecture, some splendid murals and icons, as well as various ceramics.

The Kástro
Until the 1881 earthquake, the Byzantine-Genoese Kástro stood completely intact;
thereafter developers razed the seaward walls, filled in the moat to the south and sold
of the real estate thus created along the waterfront. Nevertheless, large sections of
imposing ramparts remain and the most dramatic entry to the citadel is via the Porta
Maggiora behind the town hall.

Maritime Museum
Stefánou Tsoúri 20 • Mon-Sat: May-Oct 9am-2pm; Nov-April 9am-1pm • Donation • T 22710 44139, W chiosnauticalmuseum.gr
he Maritime Museum consists principally of model ships and nautical oil paintings, all
rather overshadowed by the mansion containing them. In the foyer are enshrined the
knife and glass-globe grenade of Admiral Kanaris, who partly avenged the 1822
massacre by ramming and sinking the Ottoman fleet's flagship, thus dispatching
Admiral Kara Ali, architect of the atrocities.

Argenti Folklore Museum
Koráï 2 • Mon-Thurs 8am-2pm, Fri 8am-2pm & 5-7pm, Sat 8am-12.30pm • €2 • T 22710 28256
The central Argenti Folklore Museum , on the top floor of the Koráïs Library, features
ponderous genealogical portraits of the endowing family, an adjoining wing of
costumes and rural impedimenta, plus multiple replicas of Delacroix's Massacre at Hios ,
a painting which did much to arouse sympathy for the cause of Greek independence.