Nea Moni of Chios, a Byzantine monastery and its 11th c. mosaics
Nea Moni, which means “new monastery,” was founded on the Aegean island of Chios by the local hermits Niketas and John (and Joseph, according to tradition) shortly before 1042.
The Nea Moni in Byzantine times.
Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-1055) became the principal benefactor of the new foundation, conferring on it abundant privileges and lands.
The monastery also received largesse from later emperors, until Andronikos II in 1289. It was exempted from episcopal jurisdiction and was granted the right to invite any bishop for the ordination of priests and deacons. At the height of its power, around the year 1300, it owned approximately one-third of all the land on Chios and was maybe home to 800 monks. Outside of its lands in Chios, the monastery also owned property in Asia Minor and Thessaly. However, in 1346, the Genoese conquered Chios and held the island until 1566.
Later history of the monastery.
Under Genoese rule, Nea Moni’s wealth declined. However, it recovered during the Ottoman era, enjoying more autonomy and being subject only to the Patriarch of Constantinople. In the late 16th century, a traveler related that the monastery had 200 monks and was the only one having the right to use bells in Greece.
But during the Greek War of Independence, the Ottomans destroyed the island of Chios in April 1822. Two thousand residents who had sought refuge in the monastery were slaughtered, and the Turkish troops set fire to part of the church. Most of the monastery’s structures were destroyed or damaged. Furthermore, an earthquake in 1881 damaged the church further and led to the collapse of its dome and several other buildings of the monastery, including the bell tower erected in 1512.
Today restored, the Nea Moni is still a convent hosting three nuns and has been inscribed, together with Daphni and Hosios Loukas, to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Byzantine elements of the monastery.
According to a tradition confirmed by architectural analysis, the present katholikon was built during the reign of Constantine IX. The naos is built in recessed-brick technique and laid out as a small square below a tall segmented dome (now restored) on an octagonal drum. Outer and inner narthexes and a low bema form distinct parts of the structure.
All except the first are internally sheathed with local red marble and mosaics that, like the overall design, are thought to be of Constantinopolitan origin. The originality of the building support this theory, and the brickwork could also have been executed by workforce coming from the capital. However the rest of the construction uses local material and appears sloppy, suggesting that local craftments were involved.
The monastery is famous for the mosaics of the katholikon. Some scholars suggest that the mosaic decoration was begun after 1049 and finished before Constantine’s death. They are less restored than those of Hosios Loukas and Daphni, but suffered extensive damages in the 19th century. They present some atypical scenes, including an orant Virgin in the apse (instead of an enthroned one with the Child Jesus, as is usual) and eight Great Feasts in the deep squinches of the drum. The inner narthex cupola contains the oldest known example of the Virgin guarded by military saints and martyrs. Due to the collapse of the dome, the mosaics of this section are lost.
The narthex is decorated with frescoes from the late Byzantine times, probably painted in the 14th century.
The monastery also retains some other elements from the 11th century: the defense tower and the cistern. The refectory (trapeza) also contains a table inlaid with marble, which is probably of the same period, as well as some parts of the building. The original Byzantine enclosure wall of the Nea Moni was destroyed in 1822, but the remains of the defense tower from the 11th century survive, which was used in the past as a library. It is important to note that the archives of the monastery, including Byzantine documents, have survived until today. Also, an underground cistern from the 11th century survives.
Outside the walls of the monastery, a chapel dedicated to St. Luke close to the monks’ cemetery is also of the Byzantine period.
The cells, mostly ruined, are from the Venetian and Genoese periods.
