Page 130 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Greek Islands

EXPERIENCE MORE

4 has scarcely changed since standing is a saddlery on
the western edge of town.
the 19th century; shells of
Avgónyma houses blend into the palisade Its now-crumbled hilltop
Αυγώνυμα on which they perch, over- castle, erected in the 11th
century by the Byzantines
looking pistachio orchards.
EXPERIENCE The Northeast Aegean Islands to Néa Moní (p126) and the 400 Greeks threw themselves medieval Volissós. The town’s
⌂ 20 km (12 miles) W of
and repaired by the Genoese
The village was the scene of
Híos town
three centuries later, shows
a dramatic incident during
This is the closest settlement
the atrocities of 1822. Some
the strategic importance of
stone houses stretch along
into a ravine from the 300-m
most beautiful of villages in
the south and east flanks
(985-ft) bluff above Anávatos,
central Híos, built in a distinct
of the fortified hill; many of
choosing suicide rather than
style: less labyrinthine and
death at the hands of the
them have been bought and
claustrophobic than the
Mastic Villages (p128), and
besieging Ottomans.
restored by Volissós’s growing
more elegant than the houses
expatriate population.
of northern Híos. Virtually
Close to the village of
every house has been
Ágio Gála, 26 km (16 miles)
5
northwest of Volissós, two
tastefully restored by Greek-
Americans with roots here.
be found lodged in a deep
The medieval pýrgos (tower)
Βολισσός
on the main square, with its
cavern near the top of a cliff.
⌂ 40 km (25 miles) NW of
The smaller, hindmost chapel
interior arcades, is home to
Híos town @
the excellent central taverna. Volissós 15th-century chapels can
is the more interesting of the
Few local villages are as Volissós was once the primary two; it is built entirely within
striking when glimpsed from market town for the 20 smaller the grotto and features a
a distance as Anávatos, 4 km villages of north western Híos, sophisticated and mysterious
(2 miles) north of Avgónyma. but nowadays the only vestige fresco of the Virgin and Child.
Unlike Avgónyma, Anávatos of its previous commercial The larger chapel, at the
entrance to the cave, boasts
an intricate carved témblon
Some 400 Greeks threw themselves into a (altar screen). Ágio Gála
ravine from the 300-m (985-ft) bluff above can be reached by bus from
Anávatos, choosing suicide over death at Volissós, but admission hours
are fairly limited, as it is only
the hands of the besieging Ottomans. open in the summer months.
Stone houses on the hillside
of the town of Volissós,
overlooked by castle ruins
130

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