Today I stayed in town completing errands all morning and with little daylight left I had little time for my usual longer tours so I decided to stay in the main town and cruise around some sites I rarely visit.
Entrance to the main gardens. The gargoyles adjacent to my ebike are re-creations of the Chios Sphinx, was common on the ancient coins and statues found in this region going back over 2 millennia. It’s used on the island flag and official municipal documents and buildings to this day.
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Western wall of the mostly intact and with people still residing inside the 10th century Byzantine castle constructed during the reign of Eastern Roman Emperor Leo“The Wise”. Remains of castle moat in background
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More sections of the western facing wall
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Main entrance with original doors still intact
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More of the moat
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Once inside after passing the front entrance
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Once inside and reaching the main square. Now populated by trendy restaurants and cafes would normally be busy but currently the country is in COVID lockdown
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The Eastern Roman Empire was officially after the great schism and the fall of the Latin western Roman Empire to German tribes the continuation of the Roman Empire. This surviving buildings architecture is testament to that as it is constructed in the Republican Rome style quite clearly. It’s only 1100 years old but wouldn’t be out of place in the Ancient Roman forum in Rome. Nearly identical to the surviving Roman senate building in Capitoline hill today. Within the ERE borders it was known as such, simply the Roman Empire; outside it’s borders it was known as Imperium Graecorum “Empire of the Greeks”
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Typical residential road with homes within the castle with some still in use today. There are more interesting sites on the northern section of the castle but it involves many steps and ancient ramparts that would involve me either locking and parking my bike or carrying it up staircases converting my bike tour into a walking one. So I stopped here and turned back.
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The main port next to the castle. This port was invaded by ancient Greek General and leader of the Corinthian league Alexander the Great in the early 4th century BCE due to the Greeks of Chios not being a member of the league. They surrendered to Alexander without resistance and accepted his rule. This led to Alexander’s “ letter to the Chian Greeks” which outlined the terms of the treaty and what they would contribute to his war effort onwards to the Achaemenid Empire in Persia. This bronze artifact still exists and is part of the main exhibit and attraction at the Chios Archaelogical Museum. It is the only known surviving artifact in the world with Alexander the Great’s handwriting due to his signature appearing on the treaty.
More recent history of the port is when Christopher Columbus moored here and lived on the island for two years and recruited local sailors and maps before his voyage to the new world.
During World war 2 the port was repeatedly bombed by the British Royal Airforce because of its use by the German navy during the Nazi German occupation of the island.
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