The Northern Aegean Islands
We’ve compiled the best of the best in The Northern Aegean Islands - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Agios Therapon
Religious Building/Site/ShrineThe enormous five-domed post-baroque church of Agios Therapon, completed in 1935, was designed by architect Argyris Adalis, an islander who studied under Ernst Ziller, the prolific architect of so many of the municipal buildings in Athens. The church is dedicated to Saint Therapon, whose name means "healer," and it's been visited by many people who came to Lesvos to recuperate from illness. It has an ornate interior, a frescoed dome, and there's a Byzantine museum in the courtyard that's filled with religious icons.
Mytilini, Lesvos, 81100, Greece22510-22561Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
2. Koimisis tis Theotokou
Religious Building/Site/ShrineThis towering church just off the main square was built in 1694 and is embellished with a lavishly decorated portico.
Pirgi, Chios, 82100, Greece -
3. Megalos Taxiarchis
Religious Building/Site/ShrineThe 19th-century church that commands the main square of Mesta (and one of two churches of the same name in the town) is one of the wealthiest in Greece; its vernacular baroque is combined with the late-folk-art style of Chios. The church was built on the ruins of the central refuge tower. If the church is closed, ask at the square and someone may come and open it for you.
Main square, Mesta, Chios, Greece -
4. Nea Moni
Religious Building/Site/ShrineAlmost hidden among the olive groves, the island's most important monastery—with its finest examples of mosaic art—is the 11th-century Nea Moni. Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos ("the Dueler") ordered the monastery built where three monks found an icon of the Virgin Mary in a myrtle bush. The octagonal katholikon (medieval church) is the only surviving example of 11th-century court art—none survives in Constantinople. The monastery has been renovated a number of times: the dome was completely rebuilt following an earthquake in 1881, and a great deal of effort has gone into the restoration and preservation of the mosaics over the years. The distinctive three-part vaulted sanctuary has a double narthex, with no buttresses supporting the dome. This design, a single square space covered by a dome, is rarely seen in Greece. Blazing with color, the church's interior gleams with marble slabs and mosaics of Christ's life, austere yet sumptuous, with azure blue, ruby red, velvet green, and skillful applications of gold. The saints' expressiveness comes from their vigorous poses and severe gazes, with heavy shadows under the eyes. On the iconostasis hangs the icon—a small Virgin and Child facing left. Also inside the grounds are an ancient refectory, a vaulted cistern, a chapel filled with victims' bones from the massacre at Chios, and a large clock still keeping Byzantine time, with the sunrise reckoned as 12 o'clock.
Nea Moni, Chios, 82100, Greece22710-79391Sight Details
Rate Includes: Donations accepted, Closed daily 1–4 -
5. Acropolis of Eresos
Religious Building/Site/ShrineAncient Eresos crowned a hillside overlooking the sea, and sections of the pre-classical walls, medieval castle ruins, and the AD 5th-century church, Ayios Andreas, remain from the storied and long-inhabited site. The church has a mosaic floor and a tiny adjacent museum housing local finds from tombs in the ancient cemetery.
Skala Eressou, Lesvos, 81105, Greece22530-53332Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Mon. -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Agioi Apostoli
Religious Building/Site/ShrineThe fresco-embellished 12th-century church Ayioi Apostoli is a very small replica of the katholikon, or major church, at the Nea Moni Monastery. Cretan artist Antonios Domestichos created the 17th-century frescoes that completely cover the interior, and they have a distinct folk-art leaning.
Pirgi, Chios, 82100, GreeceSight Details
Rate Includes: Closed Tues. -
7. Limonos Monastery
Library/ArchiveThis stunning 16th-century complex outside of Molyvos houses 40 chapels and an impressive collection of precious objects. Founded by St. Ignatios Agalianos on the ruins of an older Byzantine monastery, Leimonos earned its name from the "flowering meadow of souls" surrounding it. The intimate St. Ignatios church is filled with colorful frescoes and is patrolled by peacocks. A folk-art museum with historic and religious works is accompanied by a treasury of 450 Byzantine manuscripts. Women are not allowed inside the main church.
Kalloni, Lesvos, 81108, Greece22530-22289Sight Details
Rate Includes: €2 -
8. Panagia Spiliani Church
Religious Building/Site/ShrineEnter this spacious cave and descend 95 steps to the tiny church of Panagia Spiliani (Virgin of the Grotto). Half-church, half-cavern, this most unique landmark is also called Kaliarmenissa ("for good travels"), as it houses an antique icon of the Virgin Mary that, according to legend, was stolen from Samos, carried to a far-off land, and fell from a boat and broke into pieces, all of which washed ashore on Samos. A pool in the grotto, once the sanctuary of a Roman cult, is considered to contain miracle-working water.
Pythagorio, Samos, Greece -
9. Panagia Vrefokratousa
Religious Building/Site/ShrineThis walled compound in the village center was founded in the 12th century to house an icon of the Virgin Mary, believed to be the work of St. Luke, and it remains a popular place of pilgrimage. Built into the foundation are shops whose revenues support the church, as they have through the ages. The church museum has a little Bible from AD 500, with legible, elegant calligraphy.
Central square, Agiassos, Lesvos, GreeceSight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
10. Taxiarchis Michail
Religious Building/Site/ShrineThe black icon of Archangel Michael is in the 17th-century monastery dedicated to the island's patron saint, Taxiarchis Michail. The gruesome legend has it that the icon was carved by a monk who used mud and the blood of his comrades, slain in an Ottoman attack, to darken it. Believers used to make a wish and press a coin to the archangel's forehead; if it stuck, the wish would be granted. Owing to wear and tear on the icon, the practice is now forbidden.
North end of village, Mandamados, Lesvos, Greece
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