573. Chios
573. Chios
THE ISLANDS
335
573. Chios, Kallimasia, Aghia Paraskevi (Χίος, Καλλιμασιά,
Αγία Παρασκευή)
573. Chios, Palaios Katarraktis, Taxiarchs (Χίος, Παλαιός Καταρράκτης,
Ταξιάρχες)
cades on the long exterior walls, the decorative absidioles and
the double-light windows, the church is classified among the
island’s Byzantine monuments.
Neninta. (25)
At a distance of 1 km W of Neninta is the ruined church of
Panagia Kyra Velidaina. It is a single-nave church with a later
quadrilateral narthex built above the remnants of a preceding
church. At an earlier time, the portraits of the sponsors offering
a church to Virgin Mary could be observed on the walls. The
fresco of the Penitent Thief, dated to the 13th or 14th century,
has been removed. According to tradition, the Taxiarchs mon-
astery was built in 1306, when an icon of the saints was sent
from Morias by Priestmonk Parthenios. Within the monastery
there are scattered architectural elements, an inscription from
1485 embedded in the wall, and an exceptional carved wood
altar screen. The church has many alterations from the period
of Turkish occupation.
Exo Didyma. (26)
On the top of the hill, W of the village, stands Panagia Sike-
lia, which is the catholicon of a monastery. It is a single-nave,
cross-in-square church with a dome, and in its original build-
ing phase it probably featured a narthex. Most of it was built
according to the Constantinopolitan technique. In the interior
fragments of frescoes have been found. Panagia Sikelia dates
from circa 1300, when Chios was dominated by the Zaccaria
family, Genoese traders.
Palaios Katarraktis. (27)
The old village, located approximately 2 km SW of the mod-
ern village of Katarraktis, was deserted after the earthquake of
1881 and has remained uninhabited since then. The remnants
of the tower and medieval houses scattered in the area are of
great interest. In the environs there are a number of chapels,
such as the repaired church of Saint Nicholas, Aghia Ermione,
Panagia, Saint George, etc. Saint John Argentis is a barrel-
vaulted church with a quadrilateral vaulted narthex. It seems
that it was fundamentally renovated, with the exception of its
narthex (its earliest section), as attested by the blind arcades,
the ceramoplastic decoration and the frescoes. It is believed
that the original church was built in the 14th c. and belonged
to a small monastery, whose various ruins survive to the S.
The ruined Taxiarchs church that was roofed with a simple,
pointed barrel vault can be dated to the period of Genoese
occupation (1346-1566).
Kallimasia. (28)
SW of Kallimasia is the ruined single-nave church of Aghia
Paraskevi. The conch retains fragments of frescoes. On the
E side is an embedded inscription of 1454 that was probably
transferred from elsewhere.
Tholopotami. Sklavia. (29)
Sklavia is situated in central Chios, close to the village of Thol-
opotami. It is likely that the summer residences-towers of the
