Anavatos  

Anavatos - Chios (Greece)

Anavatos. The village of Anavatos is located nineteen kilometres west of Chios town on the Greek island of Chios. It is the most historic village of Chios. Greeks call it "the Mystras of Chios". Mistras is a similar historic village on the Peloponnese.

Anavatos is originally a Byzantine village, it is built on a high rock,  four hundred and fifty meters high, and is only accessible from the south. The village is surrounded by two gorges and consists of about four hundred buildings. The first villagers built the village below at the foot of the rock. Later, they "moved" up the village and called it Anavatos. The Greek word "Anavasi" means "Ascension". The villagers wanted to protect themselves from the pirates.

The most notable buildings are the church of Taxiarchis and the church dedicated to the Holy Mother. Most houses consisted of two floors: the first floor was a warehouse and the second floor was inhabited. These two areas were connected with each other along the inside. Unfortunately the houses and alleyways are ruined. With a little imagination however, you can imagine that the village has been important in the past and, given the size, many people lived here. The catastrophe of 1822 by the Turks and also after the big earthquake in the late 19th century led to the total abandonment of the village. When you see the village today it seems  like a ghost town. Yet a walk through the alleys of the village is a must.

Text: Yorgos and Wendy Nikolidakis - Revised by Maxine van Hoften Gee

Photo Gallery Chios - Photos of Chios

Prive beach west coast  - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com Doorkijk The harbour of Chios town - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com Little harbour in Vrondados - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com Pyrgi villagesplein - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com Richting Emborios - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com Beautiful Elinda at the west coast  - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com Chios The harbour of uitzicht - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com Pebble beach Megas Limnionas Photo 2 - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com Vistaverna Tsampos in Katarraktis - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com nature near Volissos Photo 2 - Island of Chios - Photo JustGreece.com

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Average temperature Anavatos
January
9.5°C
February
9.9°C
March
11.6°C
April
15.6°C
May
20.2°C
June
24.7°C
July
26.6°C
August
26.1°C
September
22.9°C
October
18.5°C
November
14.3°C
December
11.3°C

Anavatos in other languages


Chios: Where on the map is Anavatos located?

Map of Anavatos
The map of Chios (©JustGreece.com)
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