Fodor's Expert Review Old Quarter
An air of mystery pervades this old Muslim and Jewish neighborhood, full of decaying monuments, fountains, baths, and mosques, within the walls of the Kastro (castle) fortifications, built in the 10th century by the Byzantines and enlarged in the 14th century by the Genoese Giustiniani family. Under Turkish rule, the Greeks lived outside the wall, and the gates closed daily at sundown. A deep dry moat remains on the western side. Note the old wood-and-plaster houses on the narrow backstreets, typically decorated with latticework and jutting balconies. Scattered among the precinct are several stone towers and, inside the old gate, the cells where the Turks jailed then hanged 75 leading Chiotes during the fight for independence in 1822, when Chios joined the rest of Greece in rebellion against occupying Turks. The revolt here on the island failed, and the sultan retaliated: the Turks killed 30,000 Chiotes and enslaved 45,000, an event written about by Victor Hugo and depicted by Eugène... READ MORE
An air of mystery pervades this old Muslim and Jewish neighborhood, full of decaying monuments, fountains, baths, and mosques, within the walls of the Kastro (castle) fortifications, built in the 10th century by the Byzantines and enlarged in the 14th century by the Genoese Giustiniani family. Under Turkish rule, the Greeks lived outside the wall, and the gates closed daily at sundown. A deep dry moat remains on the western side. Note the old wood-and-plaster houses on the narrow backstreets, typically decorated with latticework and jutting balconies. Scattered among the precinct are several stone towers and, inside the old gate, the cells where the Turks jailed then hanged 75 leading Chiotes during the fight for independence in 1822, when Chios joined the rest of Greece in rebellion against occupying Turks. The revolt here on the island failed, and the sultan retaliated: the Turks killed 30,000 Chiotes and enslaved 45,000, an event written about by Victor Hugo and depicted by Eugène Delacroix in The Massacre of Chios. The painting, now in the Louvre, shocked Western Europe and increased support for Greek independence. Copies hang in many places on Chios. In the quarter's Frouriou Square, look for the Turkish cemetery and the large marble tomb (with the fringed hat) of Kara Ali, chief of the Turkish flagship in 1822.
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