Chios Town

The island's capital, called simply Chora, is a working harbour town rather than a postcard: cafés along the long waterfront, a busy market behind it, and life that goes on all year. Inside the walls of the Byzantine and Genoese castle is the old quarter, with Ottoman fountains, a small mosque and quiet lanes. Around Vounaki square are the Byzantine Museum in an old mosque, the public garden and the great Korais Library, and to the north the old windmills of Tampakika stand on the rocks by the sea.