Nea Moni sits in a fold of the pine-covered mountains above Chios town, on the Greek island of Chios in the eastern Aegean, and it is among the finest surviving Byzantine monasteries. The tradition says that in the eleventh century three monks found an icon of the Virgin hanging in a myrtle bush and had a vision, and that they won the support of the emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, who paid for the building of a church. Its great treasure is the mosaics, made of glass and gold tesserae by craftsmen from Constantinople, which show scenes from the life of Christ against shimmering gold backgrounds. Together with the mosaics of Daphni and Hosios Loukas, they are the most important of their period in Greece, and the monastery is a World Heritage site.
The history of the place has darker passages. In 1822, during the Greek War of Independence, Ottoman troops landed on Chios and massacred much of the population, and many people had sought refuge in the monastery, which was burned. The skulls of the victims are kept in a small ossuary in the grounds, and the event was the subject of a painting by Delacroix. Then in 1881 a violent earthquake damaged the church and the dome, and the building was patiently restored in the twentieth century. The mosaics, though patchy, are still a splendid sight, and the light inside the church changes with the hour.
The road up from Chios town winds through scrubby hills and pine forest, with fine views over the sea, and is a pleasant ride at an easy pace. The surface is mostly good, with tight bends and the occasional goat. In summer the heat is strong, and the mountain air is cooler, and it is wise to stay with the road and not push the speed. The island is also famous for the mastic tree, a small shrub from which a resin is harvested in the south, and the medieval villages of Pyrgi, with walls decorated in black-and-white geometric patterns, and Mesta are worth a visit.
Vrontados and Chios town, about six kilometres away, have fuel, tavernas and shops, and the monastery has no services, so fill up and carry water. Dress modestly, with covered shoulders and knees, and check opening hours.