Justiniani Palace and Dark Prison in the Castle of Chios

In contact with the western side of the “Justiniani Palace” and in communication with the fortifications around the Porta Maggiore is the ground floor of the tower known as the “Dark Prison” and owes its construction also to the initiative of the Genoese. It is an almost square hall (10X8.50m.) covered with four cross vaults and in the middle stands a massive pesos. In the key of the two eastern cross vaults there are opai (circular and square, respectively) with which the lighting and ventilation of the space is partially achieved. Originally it must have had at least two floors, of which no trace has been preserved, and on all sides of the building there were large and tall windows, which were blocked when modifications were made to the fortifications -unknown exactly at what time-, but nevertheless they constitute a sufficient of testimony alone that the space was far from dark when it was constructed and that it was certainly not a prison. The building is linked to a tragic event in the recent history of Chios: in 1822, the year of the Chios Massacre, fifty-five candidates were imprisoned here as hostages by the Turks together with Metropolitan Plato Fragiadis, before being led to the gallows.