Since 1980 the Chios Byzantine Museum has been housed in the Mecidiye Mosque, an Ottoman architectural monument in the centre of the modern town. Built to a square ground plan with a porch, the mosque was commissioned in the mid 19^th century by Sultan Abdul Mecid. From the very earliest days of the modern Greek state it was used to house the island’s archaeological collections. Following extensive renovation work carried out on the building over subsequent years, the new archaeological collection of the Chios Byzantine Museum went on display. The permanent exhibition traces the course of the island’s cultural heritage over the Byzantine and post-Byzantine centuries, highlighting the fruitful intermingling of peoples who lived together on the island, while also making reference to major historical events in modern times. It is organized around three core thematic units, together with an introduction presenting the island’s cultural, political and social history via a chronological table and visual material.

Unit I, which takes up the north side of the building, focuses on church and secular architecture, including: (a) sculptures from Early Christian churches (4^th – 7^th century), such as capitals , closure slabs , mullions, pulpit fragments and an offerings table, as well as visual material; (b) an examination of Byzantine church architecture, with special reference to the octagonal church type; an exhibition of closure slabs, fragments of epistyles , a cornice from an arch, mullions from churches, capitals; (c) a presentation of the island’s Genoese period (1346-1566); an exhibition of secular architecture sculptures, with information on Genoese  architecture, fortification works and the architecture of contemporary fortified villages; (d) information on Chios in the Ottoman period.

Unit II, on the south side of the building, consists of information and finds relating to everyday life as experienced in activities, work and living alongside other social and religious groups, as follows: (i) household decoration and equipment; (ii) dietary habits; (iii) Chios and the sea; (iv) sea voyages; (v) ceramics - pottery (vi) graves, burials and burial customs.

Unit III focuses on worship and art. This includes Byzantine and post-Byzantine frescoes showing how painting developed on the island under the manifest influence of art as it evolved in Crete and Constantinople. Here the exhibition has been set up on two parallel rows running diagonally across the centre of the room to create an avenue of art. On display are frescoes from the catholicon at Nea Moni on Chios, as well as from Panagia Krina and other churches on the island.