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Mesta
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.jpg) Mesta, is a perfectly preserved village-castle of the Byzantine period (14th and 15th centuries). It has been designated a listed monument and it is found 35 Km southwest of the town. The Castle-village, takes you back centuries, with its very few changes. It keeps its houses tied tightly together in what seems like a closed and compact form. The streets are cobbled and narrow. This type of fortress, a four-cornered structure, was built for protection against the frequent attacks by pirates and Turks, as well as for better cultivation of the mastic bush. It lies in small, treeless valleys far from the sea. The gray houses had doors and windows that faced only the interior of the wall, that is, inside the village. The outer walls contained adjoining parapets with small towers at the corners and gates at two or three points. At the center of every medieval village rises the defense tower, a form of Acropolis, where the inhabitants took refuge in the case of attack, using a movable bridge. |
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.jpg) The streets are narrow, stone-paved, and are connected to the central tower square. At frequent intervals there are transverse archways supporting the structures, as well as vaults and arches supporting the rooms. The functional character of the houses was geared to defense, and thus the inhabitants were able to move about the roofs without being seen. The four-sided shape of these houses, their thick structure, the defense system, the gray walls, the small areas for general use, and their relation to the treeless, natural surroundings, convince us that the medieval villages of Chios were built on a fixed plan which may have been imposed by the Genoese. |
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 An excellent, worth visiting monument is the church of the Older Taxiarchi, a vaulted one-aisled basilica, that became two-aisled in 1794 with the wood carved iconostasis, a fine piece of Chian wood-sculpture.
Traditional feasts are organized many times through the year, besides the standard feast on Shrove Monday, when the traditional custom of Agas (a Turkish official) who burlesques the trials of the Turkish judges as they were done in the Turkish period, takes place. Other feasts are organized on the 15th of August and the 8th of November, which are religious holidays.
The harbor of Mesta is at a distance of 4 kilometers from the village. |
 Also in the area...
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Chios hotels, Apartments and Houses |
| Chios hotels, Chios apartments, Chios holiday houses |
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Chios Car Hire |
| Car Rentals in Chios |
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| Armolia, Pyrgi, Vessa, Elata, Lithi, Olympi, Mesta |
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Sightseeing |
Prehistoric Times
Prehistoric Emporio
Ancient Times
Temple of Phanaios Apollo, Temple of Athena at Emporio
Early Christian Times
Phana, Temple of Athena Polias
Medieval Times
Holy Apostles, Virgin Sikelia, Fortress of Apolihni, Pyrgi, Mesta, Olympi, Vessa, Watchtowers
Late Byzantine Times
Churches of Mesta
Post Byzantine and Later Times
Monastery of Zoodochos Pygi, St George Monastery at Pyrgi |
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| Komi, Mavra Volia, Vroulidia, Avlonia, Karida, Salagonas, Aghia Dynami, Potamoi, Kato Phana, Apothika, Limenas Meston, Didyma Beach, Merikounta, Aghia Irini, Lithi Beach, Trahilia, Elinda |
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Date: Κυριακή, 13 Μαρτίου 2005
Nikki Manolakis-Swartz, Glassport,Pa. U.S. | | Comment: | This village took you back to the times when it was built. To walk through the stone vaulted pathways was an incredible feeling. It was definitely worth the visit. | - |
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