Moundon Monastery

The monastery of Moundon is located in the village of Dievcha, in the northern part of Chios, next to Volissos. It honors the name of Saint John the Baptist. It was established in the 9th century and renovated by the monk Iakonos Lagadiotis in 1574.

In the past it was considered to be the most important monastery after Nea Moni, and it was the home of almost 300 monks.
Later it was destroyed two times – the first time by the Turks in 1822, and later, in 1881, by the great earthquake that afflicted the whole island.
The monastery maintains an impressive library with a significant parchment from 1462. It offers good samples of Byzantine architecture and art. The church of St. John is full of frescoes depicting the Passion of the Christ, saints and scenes from the Old and the New Testament. All frescoes that had been damaged during the major disasters were repaired by a monk of the monastery in 1849. Many of these beautiful frescoes are still today in good condition.