Nea Moni
Photo: Greece Field Guide
The Verdict
The finest Byzantine mosaics in the Aegean, in a monastery in the hills of Chios that almost nobody visits.
Why go
Nea Moni was founded in the eleventh century by an emperor, and its church still holds mosaics of the same generation and school as those at Daphni and Hosios Loukas on the mainland: gold ground, deep blue, figures of extraordinary quality. The monastery was sacked in 1822 and has been partly ruinous ever since, which gives a visit a weight the restored monasteries lack. It is fifteen minutes from Chios Town and there is rarely anyone else there.
Understand the place
An eleventh-century monastery in the hills of central Chios, its church covered in gold-ground mosaics of the highest quality.
Nearby
Related
More monasteries in Greece
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