Nea Moni of Chios

Nea Moni stands on a ledge in the mountains above Chios Town, founded in the eleventh century with imperial money after three hermits reported finding an icon in a myrtle bush. The church is built on the island octagon plan, where the dome rests on squinches over an open square with no interior columns, and the effect inside is of a single tall space rather than a set of aisles. Its mosaics belong to the same generation as the finest work in Constantinople, gold ground with tense, elongated figures, though the 1881 earthquake brought down the dome and much of what it carried. What survives sits in the narthexes and around the sanctuary.

What you actually see

• The narthex mosaics - saints and gospel scenes on gold, the best-preserved part of the cycle.
• The katholikon - the columnless octagon plan with marble revetment on the lower walls.
• The monastic enclosure - walls, cells, refectory and a deep cistern around the church.
• The mountain setting - a mastic-and-pine slope with the sea visible far below.

When to go

Spring and autumn are ideal, and the drive up is part of the point. The monastery closes for several hours in the middle of the day, which catches out visitors arriving after lunch, so come in the morning or late afternoon. Modest dress is required and enforced. Off-season the road can be quiet enough that you have the church to yourself.

Honest expectations

The dome mosaics are gone and the church has visible earthquake repairs, so the cycle is a fragment of what it was. Interior lighting is minimal. The approach road is narrow with blind bends and drops. There is nowhere to eat nearby, hours change without notice, and the visit itself is short relative to the driving it takes to get there and back.

Nearby

The abandoned village of Anavatos and the mosaic-floored monastery lanes of the Kambos plain are on the same side of the island.