Mesta ...more on Mesta

Exactly where the central defensive tower used to be, which was demolished with the help of the whole population of the village, back in 1858 to 1860, a grandiose basilica church was built (1868), dedicated to archangels Michael and Gabriel.

...Two or three-storied houses, made of chiseled stone and porcelain-based plaster, rise here and there, embracing one another and this way forming arcades, with more rooms on top of them. Narrow winding alleyways, so narrow that only one loaded donkey can walk along, form a defensive maze, the main purpose of which was to take attackers by surprise and delay their access to the main central tower (see Mesta History text).

The house interior consisted of the ground floor, dedicated to the animal stables and the store room. A stone staircase takes you up to an uncovered rectangular opening used to light and air the two or three rooms around it and the kitchen. In this opening, the family oven also was in place. When room space grew insufficient, wooden lofts where made to double the available space.

At the village center there is a square, the heart of the village; it is here that you can satiate your hunger or have something to drink. Try Souma, a locally produced alcoholic drink, made by fermentation of figs!  Or a local traditional sweet, called hypovrihio (= "submarine"), because it is taken from the vase in large teaspoonfuls and dropped, together with the spoon, into a glass of cold water, where it stiffens.

Exactly where the central defensive tower used to be, which was demolished with the help of the whole population of the village, back in 1858 to 1860, a grandiose basilica church was built (1868), dedicated to archangels Michael and Gabriel. It is the biggest building on Chios and one of the biggest churches in Greece! A church of much greater interest, though, is the church past the square, dedicated to the same Archangels, left intact after the destruction by pirates of a monastery that had existed here (4th-5th centuries A.D.), before Mesta was built. In the old church, there is a unique wood carved iconostasis, made more than 150 years ago. To admire it, one should turn to the local warden of the church, responsible for the keys and who will be happy to act as a guide.

After what you have been told of the village’s misfortunes, you will be astonished to find out how cheerful and merry its inhabitants are!  They are hard working people, with the individual and village prosperity in mind, who will never fail to treat you as a friend while you are experiencing the mythical realities inherent to this part of Greece.