In the south-west of Chios in the hostile valley further from the coast, you can see a unique and quite well-preserved national site of the island - the village and the castle of Mesta from the Byzantine era, i.e. the period between the 14th and 15th century. During the Middle Ages, the remparts served as a point of defence against the raiders, which is evidenced by the architectural solution of the settlement including a watchtower and a drawbridge. A walk through the paved streets along the houses squeezed one next to another will take you to the ancient times and fill you with the chilling feeling of threat of the then inhabitants who had contructed a unique system of defence against ennemies from the outside. The oldest and most interesting site of the whole mediaeval settelement is probably the Palaios Taxiarchis Basilica with well-preserved mural paitings and works of the local woodcarvers.