Great place to visit if your on the Island , spend 30-45min walking around the church and it beautiful building .Continue your drive to Agia Markela
Nea Moni is in a beautiful setting, and the grounds are also quite nice. Tourists should be aware that it was closed in the early afternoon when we visited (it is an active monastery), so you need to time your visit
This is a fascinating monastery, still active, though very few inhabitants left. The first sanctuary is the chapel to the martyrs of the Chios massacre. To American eyes, it might be shocking to see the skulls lined up in a glass case, with thigh bones below, especially when you notice that many of the skulls show damage from blunt objects... but Greeks have a different attitude towards death. The main sanctuary has gorgeous mosaics, rivaling those at Dafni and Hosios Loukas. There is also a fascinating origin story for the monastery, complete with a miracle. The monastery is peaceful and you can learn a lot!
Nea moni monstery is a must visit on cantral Chios on the way to Avgonima and Anavatos.Opening hours 08.00-13.00 morning 16.00-20.00 afternoon.
Such a beautiful and peaceful spot to visit. The little room that houses the skulls of those killed in the massacre is striking.
This monastery has so much history, you must allow plenty of time to take it all in. The peaceful surroundings provide the setting to reflect on the terrible atrocities that took place on this holy ground.
The most important monastery in Chios & its mosaics are really nice. You need a car to reach there (or you can join tour for south part of island). It's a small monastery but very important for Greece. You should pass by there.
This is such an amazing place to visit... Read the history of the 1821 massacre, it will give you a chilling perspective of the site and the 3,500 that were killed. ( bones are in part of the church.. )The church is stunning as are the Mosaics, make sure to visit the museum and check out the cistern in the back where water still flows. The location is breathtaking as is the drive , make sure to also stop by Anavatos , you will be blown away at this location .Chios continues to impress..
For most tourists, the reason to visit Nea Moni will be to see the extraordinarily beautiful and expressive late Byzantine mosaics, which must be among the greatest in the world. Their beauty is obvious, and can easily be appreciated without a guide-book, although one will help in identifying the figures. I walked from Chios town and back and it took the whole day. An alternative may be to get a taxi there and walk back, or to find a bus to leave you at the turn-off for the monastery and collect you on its way back. Before you go, make sure they'll be receiving visitors at the time you arrive. And while you're there, enjoy the monastery itself, the sense of deep peace, and the glorious setting high up above the Aegean.
This monastery is quite old, dating from the tenth century, and its mosaics and frescos interesting and fairly well preserved. However, the site itself is not staffed by those who could best articulate for the uninitiated either its historical significance or the subjects of the beautiful art works that grace its vaults and domes. It is a lovely bit of architecture which has been much restored in the recent past and which continues to be so. Even so, visitors are left in the dark about the detailed work that has gone into restorations at the Rectory and the Catholicon. Rather than paying attention to this important and impressive site, we found ourselves trying to dodge a caretaker who harassed women wearing short skirts and sleeve-less blouses to make themselves "decent" with rather grimy looking shawls. The site is in desperate need of written descriptions of its many treasures, especially for those travelers without Greek, German or French. Finally, come with water bottles, at least, as this site makes no accommodations to a weary tourist's thirst. And toilets, too, were awful, without seats (they had actually been torn off) and very dirty.