The traditional architecture of Chios is different from the one of the other North-Eastern Aegean.
Even if the town has lost many of its traditional buildings and houses after the disastrous earthquake of 1881, it has kept a lovely old quarter where the narrow alleys and the Turkish houses are blended together, around a Genoese-Byzantine castle.
Various medieval villages, called the “mastic villages”, are |
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The villages have been built according to a peculiar planning, in an obvious fortress style, as the houses were built attached one to another for their walls to form a great defensive wall.
Elaborate artworks are adorning the walls of the houses, such as the houses in the village of Pirgi, which are engraved with fine grey and white decorative drawings.
Those fortified villages were built during the 14th and 15th centuries. Their inhabitants |
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The wealthy inhabitants were
then able to built those superb mansions and richly decorate
their interiors.
The poorest villages on the northern side of Chios have a simple architecture of a popular style.
The houses are built with materials found on the island,
such as heavy stones and wood.
The walls are usually whitewashed.
Byzantine, Genoese, Turkish and medieval architecture are blended together, forming a |
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