Metropolitan Cathedral of Chios

The Metropolitan Church of Chios, dedicated to Saints Minas, Victor, and Vincent, is the city’s foremost religious and historical monument. Built in 1886–1888 on the site of an older church destroyed by fire and earthquake, it was consecrated in 1889. The present church is in the Byzantine style with a dome and two bell towers. Since then it has been associated with major moments in Chios’s history, such as the 11 November 1912 thanksgiving for the island’s liberation. Inside are important relics, including the reliquary of Saint Isidore and the mitre of the Chian martyr Dorotheos Proios, while the pebble-mosaic courtyard with geometric and Christian motifs stands out as an example of local traditional art. Known also as “Saints Victores,” the church remains a national symbol and the center of the celebrations of Chios’s patron saints and its Liberation Day.