«…Wednesday, May 26th, 1841. The Commander of the Fortress of Chalkida city, German Colonel Favrikios, during his passage from Chalkis, who had advised me not to skip, during my tour of Evia, to visit the ruins of ancient Pili, four hours far from Ahmet Aga (Prokopi).»
Alexandre Buchon (1791-1846) in his book “Tour of the Greek Islands” about his visit to Pili in 1841.
MONUMENTS OF PILI
Church of Agios Dimitrios
Former Monastery, based on studies, is older than Agios Ioannis, the Theologian. The surrounding area has been changed by human interventions and the historical signs and objects that testified to its historicity.
The researcher and author Theodoros Skouras, in his book “Byzantine Monuments of Evia”, associates the historic church of Agios Ioannis the Theologian with the pre-existing in the area, Monastery of Agios Dimitrios. In the same book, he makes the following remark: ” Demetriou writes:” In the same area there was in the past the Monastery of Agios Dimitrios that was destroyed by the Saracens and of which Agios Ioannis was a chapel “. The Monastery was a few meters before the church of Agios Ioannis. Now there is absolutely nothing because the ruins disappeared from there since there have been built in the Monastery area, and their distance from the existing church is a few meters which are expressed in a single-digit number. In this new church, the only samples from the old one are the rocky entrance beam and the lintel… “.
Chapel of Agios Ioannis the Theologian
Near the beach of Pili, since the 14th century, there is the chapel of Agios Ioannis the Theologian, with unique frescoes. On May 8th, a large number of pilgrims gather at its festival. A strange modern history accompanies the chapel. Around 1987 the inhabitants of Pili, one morning, found holes in the floor of the church, while next to them, there were scattered empty boxes. It is said that the Germans during World War II had hidden golden coins they stole from the area's residents in the boxes, and, when they deemed the time appropriate, they came and retrieved them. Others say that this treasure was well hidden in the past by pirates. They hid it in the chapel because it was a perfect hiding place for them. However, they did not manage to return and take it back, so later information about the treasure's location reached the Germans, and so they managed to discover it and take it away.
Kastri of Pili
It is a rocky hill above Pili, where several years ago, relics of ancient walls 3 meters high, since the Classical and Hellenistic eras were preserved (as the French researcher Bison had observed during his visit in 1840). The Athenians may have built the fortress. In addition, shells of the same time periods were found on surveys. Today, the panoramic view of the site continues to impress, with the Greek flag waving (placed in Kastri) over the houses and people of Pili!
