Metropolitan Church of the Martyrs Minas, Victor and Vincent

The Metropolitan church of the Martyrs Minas, Victor and Vincent dominates at the centre of the city of Chios and impresses the visitor and the pilgrim with the exterior grandeur and its interior brilliance.

It is a three-aisled church and its central aisle is dedicated to Agioi Minas, Victor and Vincent, the right one to Agia Matrona of Chios and the left to Agia Paraskevi.

At the location of the present day Metropolitan church there was a small monastery. This church became known as the church of Agioi Victores (St Victors), a name that survives to the present days, since the people of Chios calls the three martyrs, Minas, Victor and Vicente “Agioi Victores”, and they consider them as the patron saints of the island of Chios.

In 1822 the small monastery of Agioi Victores was torches by the Turks and was destroyed completely. In 1838 a new church was constructed at the location of the existent one with a decision by the Metropolitan of Chios Kosmas, who in 1839 and after his persistent request established it and declared it into the Metropolitan church of Chios. The new church was dedicated again to Agioi Victores. In this historical church it was for the first time that a bell sounded during the period of the Turkish occupation, on the night of the Resurrection in 1840, in spite of the strict prohibition by the Turks.

This church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1881 and another church was constructed, whose erection started in 1886 and was completed in 1888. The new church was built in Byzantine style with a dome and two bell towers, larger and more magnificent than the older one, and was inaugurated by the Metropolitan of Chios, Konstantinos Deligiannis.

Noteworthy is the ciborium of the altar at the central aisle of the church, but also the wonderful portable icons that adorn the walls of the church.

Here, they keep in a reliquary part of the sacred relic of Agios Isidoros, as well as other valuable ecclesiastical relics, like the miter of the Metropolitan of Andrianoupolis Dorotheos Proios, who descended from Chios, and the prelatic adornment of Agios Nectarios, Metropolitan of Pentapolis. Outside of the church the visitors are impressed by the wonderful pebbled yard.

The Metropolitan Church of Chios is for more than a hundred year an architectural jewel at the centre of the city of Chios but at the same time it constitutes a national and religious symbol for the island of Chios.

Near the church is the Public Library “Adamantios Korais”. It is one of the largest libraries iif Greece and has, among others, a folklore collection.

At a close distance from the church, you can visit the Archaeological Museum, the Naval Museum and the Byzantine Museum, while close are the church of Agios Iakovos Adelfotheos,  with the large wood carved and gold-plated screen (older screen of the Metropolitan church) and the ruins of the church of Agios Vasilios (16th century) of the family of Petrokokkinos in the Municipal Garden.