Exploration of the Byzantine world could not but include the broad and culturally rich area of the Aegean archipelago. Although the islands did not play a leading role in the political, religious and artistic developments of the Byzantine Empire, they did follow contemporary trends and serve as the theatre for many important events. Byzantine monuments preserved on the islands plainly and eloquently depict all those elements which changed, influenced and defined history and culture down the centuries; attacks, invasions and violent physical phenomena can be traced through the ruined villages and crumbling monuments. To this day, by examining the large monastery complexes, the extensive and prosperous settlements and the many churches we can determine the periods of boom and prosperity experienced by the islands and the entire empire at particular times.

The Constantinople - Crete route was named after the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus II Phocas, for he was the one who first traced it in history, in 960. It was then that he set out from the capital of the Byzantine Empire for Crete, which he retook from the Arabs in 961, following several months of operations. Using the imaginary line that links Constantinople to Crete as our guide, the Nicephorus Phocas route presents selected sites and monuments of the Aegean. The concept behind this choice lay in a desire to throw light on the Byzantine and post-Byzantine chapters of history at particular places in the Aegean region, guiding the reader to places and monuments of great import, as well as to those usually confined to the margins of interest.

Readers choosing the Nicephorus Phocas route will visit castles, monasteries, churches and present-day museums. The virtual castle trail starts at the fortress of Mytilene, heading via the castles of Chios, Leros, Kos, Rhodes and Naxos to end at that of Chania. Nea Moni on Chios and the Monastery of St. John the Theologian on Patmos, together with the early Christian basilicas of Kos and the Episkopi at Kissamos, mark out the trail of religious monuments. The interactive tour is complemented by a modern-day glance back into the past via museums on Chios, at the Nicolaides Mansion on Patmos and on Leros.

The unique, interesting knowledge acquired by visitors choosing to travel the Nicephorus Phocas route lies in discovering the patchwork of cultures and hues in the Aegean of Byzantine times. As a living space laid claim to by many different peoples, the Byzantine Aegean boasts the brilliant colors of the mosaics at Nea Moni, the complex design of the castle at Naxos, the robustness of the Knights’ Castle, and the energy of all the people (Greeks, Venetians, Ottomans) that navigated and inhabited it down the centuries, with all their various languages, religions, experiences, backgrounds and purposes.