Photos of the Byzantine Nea Moni Monastery Mosaic Art Chios

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Photos of the Byzantine Romanesque Nea Moni Monastery Mosaic Art, Chios Island Greece. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.  (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Byzantine Romanesque Nea Moni Monastery Mosaics, Chios

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Photos of Nea Moni Monastery Byzantine Mosaics, Chios Greece.

The Foundation of Nea Moni Monastery

Nea Moni Monastery was built by Byzantine Roman Emperor Constantine IX and Empress Zoe in 1049. The mastery was built to venerate a miracle in which, according to tradition, three monks, Nikitas, Ioannes and Iosif, miraculously found an icon of the Virgin Mary, hanging from a branch of a myrtle bush.

Constantine at that time was exiled in nearby Lesbos, and the monks visited him and told of a vision in which he would eventually become emperor. Constantine promised to build a church if this should come to pass. In 1049 he kept his promise

Nea Moni Monastery

The middle and north of Chios is dominated by high mountains up to 1297m high with steep cliffs dropping into the Aegean Sea. Neo Moni Monastery was founded high up in these mountains.

The church of Nea Moni is of an octagonal shape, the so-called “insular” type, found in Chios and Cyprus. It has been damaged by earthquakes over the years and repaired.

Nea Moni Mosaics

Several Byzantine mosaics have survived. One depicts christ being baptised by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Another depicts the crucifixion and resurrection.

At its peak, around 1300, its estates covered one third of Chios and it is estimated that up to 800 monks belonged to it.

The monastery gatehouse holds a chilling Ossuary of skulls of victims of the Ottoman sack of Chios.

The Greek War of Independence

In 1821 the Greeks made a bid for freedom from Ottoman Empire and started a War of Independence. When Turkish civilians were massacred the Ottomans took their revenge on Chios just a few kilometres off mainland Turkey.

It is estimated some 25,000 Chiots lost their lives in the sack of Chios. Only the people from the Mastic growing area in the south were spared, as Mastic was one of the Sultans favourite food and it only grew on Chios.

Several hundred priests and civilians were massacred in Nea Moni and the Monastery was looted. Villagers dived off high cliffs to their deaths rather than face worse at the hand of the Ottoman troops.

This tragic episode has still left uninhabited villages in the centre of the Island today.

Nea Moni is a UNESCO World Heritage Site