Church of the Holy Apostles

The Church of the Holy Apostles in Pyrgi is one of Chios’s most important monuments and belongs to the type of island octagonal churches. Considered a small copy of Nea Moni’s Katholikon, it has been preserved in very good condition. Externally it is distinguished by ceramic decoration of bands, curves, and bottle-mouths, while inside it is entirely painted with frescoes by the Cretan iconographer Antonios Domestichos Kynigos from 1665. An inscription above the entrance states that in 1564 the hieromonk Symeon, later Metropolitan of Chios, renovated the church. Its original construction is placed around the mid-14th century. The church holds services once a year, on 29 June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.