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.

History

Tradition says three monks, Nikitas, Ioannes and Iosif, found an icon of the Virgin hanging from a myrtle branch here and told Constantine Monomachos, then in exile on Lesbos, that he would become emperor; when he took the throne in 1042 he built the monastery with his wife Zoe, the main church was inaugurated in 1049 and the complex finished in 1055, and a chrysobull of 1049 granted it the head tax of all the Jews of Chios. Around 1300 its estates covered a third of the island and up to 800 monks belonged to it, and it prospered again under the Ottomans, until in April 1822, during the Greek War of Independence, Ottoman troops stormed the monastery where 2,000 people had taken refuge, killed many and set the church's woodwork alight. The earthquake of 1881 brought down the dome and the bell tower of 1512, in 1952 it became a convent, and in 1990 it was inscribed on the World Heritage List for its mosaics (Wikipedia, Nea Moni of Chios).

What to look for

• 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.

Good to know

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.

Key facts