573. Chios
573. Chios
THE ISLANDS
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573. Chios, Castle (Χίος, το κάστρο)
rock below the village of Kampia. Remains of fortifications sur-
vive on the E side of the rock − the three remaining sides are
protected naturally. There is access via a staircase and the en-
trance is flanked by a tower. One more tower is preserved on
the N side, where the small, Post-Byzantine naiskos of Aghia
Paraskevi is located.
Aghion Galas. (6)
This small medieval village was built on a plateau above the
cave of Aghion Galas. The cave was used from antiquity to the
Early Byzantine period as a place of residence and asceticism
for monks and anchorites in the hermitages that had been
formed (9th-11th c.). Aghion Galas is identified with the medie-
val location Aghia Eleni, which is mentioned in 1379 as a cen-
tre and seat of the castellan and after 1420 as a castle city. The
surviving monuments attest the continuous habitation of the
area, up to the present. On a rocky hill close to the entrance
of the cave of Aghion Galas stands the church of Panagia Agi-
ogalousaina. It is a contracted, cross-in-square church with
a high dome. The annexes surrounding the church indicate
its function as a monastery catholicon. One of the annexes,
possibly the refectory, has a wall-painting of Panagia Hode-
getria. The church dates from the 13th-14th c. and features
a carved wood altar screen. In the interior of the cave is a
