Southwest of the town of Chios and just 7 kilometers form it, there
is Vavili. Between Neochorio and Sklavia, you think that it is built in a "pit"
and around it appears, in the South, the mountain of Anemona and in the Northwest,
the hill of Sklavia.
Its 200 citizens are occupied with agriculture. Their gardens are
located in the West side of the village, on the side of Sklavia, there where wells
with plenty of water are. They produce many premature gardening products and the
very famous, sweet and easy cooking beans of Vavili. There is also a small production
of mastic.
This small village also belongs to the municipality of Kambochora.
But it maintains its municipal school, while it has a library and a Byzantine
Museum. In this, ecclesiastical objects of great value and wonderful pictures
taken from the temple of Panagia Krina, are exposed.
The name "Vavili" is said to be derived from the Genoese
last name "Vavilas", while the tradition mentions that the village was
built from the slaves (kopelia, sklavia) of the Genoese, who had their castles
and their estates in the area (Krina, Kardamada, Anemonas, Sklavia). When the
slaves were set free, along with their freedom they had the right to settle in
the area nearby and cultivate it. This tradition is also a possible explanation
of the name Sklavia (slavery), (sklavi=little slave). In this area old Genoese
mansions still remain, surrounded by a wonderful pine forest. The church of Agios
Ioannis of the Catholics still exists, too.
