Agio Galas of Chios

The motivation for writing this book has been a request οπ behaIf of the Parochial Committee of Agio GaIas -through the vicar, priest Nikolaos Katsaros- to write a text οn the village's church monuments, and especially that of Panagia, in order to have it printed and distributed to pilgrims. We felt obliged to respond to that request not only because of its noble cause, but also because Agio GaIas is our mother's native land, our place of birth as well as the village where we lived in our early childhood. However, given that Agio Galas -the most ancient and constantly inhabited place of Chios- presents a multi-faceted interest, not only for its church monuments, but also for its settlement and its remarkable cave with so many rich archaeologicaI and paIaeontological findings, we decided that the book should also cover all the above topics. More precisely, at the First Part we have expounded what is directly related to the settlement itself (topography, name, architecture, historical, financial, social and religious life); at the Second Part what regards the church of Panagia Agiogaloussena (historical overview and its description); and at the Third Part what concerns the Cave (speleological and archaeological overview). Furthermore, we have added tables and relevant passages-accounts within distinctive borders (featuring as side quotations) in relation to chapters of the first two parts. [...]