The road continues and soon we reach another beach area, Megas Limnionas.
It takes its name from the word limni (bay) which is protected from the North
Winds. It was used for loading and unloading cargo goods to and from the nearby
islands and from Asia
Minor. During the Middle Ages when pirates rampaged the Greek shores, one
Friday before Lent they landed here to plunder the village of Thymiana nearby.
The villagers, meanwhile, had been notified by the watch towers. They lay in ambush
at Stenaka and routed them.
In commemoration of this victory, the famous Mostra of Thymiana is
held each year on the Friday and Sunday before Lent. In 1822 it was in Megas Limnionas
that Lycourgos and his men landed from Samos in the hopes of stirring the revolution
for the island's freedom from Turks. (Unfortunately, the mission failed; Chios
was not liberated until 1912). Here, too, and all across these shores, thousands
of Greek refugees arrived from Asia Minor as a result of the Turkish holocaust
there in 1922. Today the visitor is won over by the natural beauty of the landscape
and the clear blue sea. Here, too, there are charming taverns, rooms to let and
various shops to accommodate all visitors.
