This medieval village, an architectural jewel of the island, is 25 km from the town of Chios. It is a highly fortified area with stone houses built next to each other, alleys and narrow cobblestone streets and many churches. It is considered a protected monument as it survived the earthquake of 1881 and it is almost unchanged since the day it was built. The high walls of the houses are decorated with geometrical patterns (engraved on the fresh plaster) called "ksysta". This is a technique of Chios which became famous in 1965. A fine example of Byzantine architecture of the 13th century are the monumental Churches of The Dormition of Virgin Mary (Koimisi tis Theotokou) and The Church of Agii Apostoli as well as the house of Christopher Columbus who stayed on Chios for a while.
