Mesta

Mesta is the best-preserved of the medieval mastic villages, and the most clearly legible as a fortified settlement. The entire village was designed as a single defensive unit: a circular wall of houses, a single gate, a central tower, and a network of alleys so convoluted that strangers lose their way within minutes. It was last successfully defended against pirate raids in the 17th century.

The centre of the village opens onto a small plateia with a cafe and the 14th-century church of Taxiarchis, which has a carved wooden iconostasis and is worth looking inside. The stone alleys and vaulted passageways are very photogenic in the evening light.

Staying overnight in Mesta is possible in converted village houses, which gives the advantage of having the alleys to yourself before the day-trippers arrive from Chios town. The village is about 35 km from Chios town; buses are infrequent and a car is more practical.

things to do sight neighbourhood
A story
Mesta was built as a collective defence against the pirates who plagued the Aegean for centuries. The village has only one entrance gate, the streets are deliberately narrow and labyrinthine, and the outer ring of houses forms a continuous defensive wall with no windows on the exterior face. The maze of alleys was designed so that any attacker who breached the gate would immediately become lost. Several of the stone houses date to the 14th century and are still inhabited.