Why Chios Is Different
Chios is the fifth-largest Greek island, lying in the north-eastern Aegean a short distance from the Turkish coast. It is less shaped by mass tourism than the Cyclades: Chios Town is a working port and commercial centre, and much of the island's wealth historically came from shipping and from mastic, the aromatic resin of the mastic tree. That makes it a good choice for travellers interested in villages, Byzantine monuments and food rather than nightlife.
The island is large and varied enough that a car is close to essential. The south is dry and covered with mastic groves, the centre is mountainous, and the north is greener and sparsely populated. Allow at least four or five days.
The Mastic Villages
The Mastichochoria are a group of villages in the south of the island built between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, when Chios was ruled by the Genoese. They were designed as fortified settlements: the outer houses form a continuous wall, the streets inside are narrow and vaulted, and a central tower served as the last refuge.
Mesta is the best-preserved example, a compact maze of stone passages around its church and square; it is easy to get lost, which was the point. Olympi, nearby, has a similar plan around its tower. Pyrgi is different again: its house facades are covered in xysta, geometric sgraffito patterns scratched through white plaster to the grey layer beneath, which makes its main square unlike anywhere else in Greece.
Mastic: What It Is and Where to See It
Mastic trees grow elsewhere in the Mediterranean, but the resin is produced commercially only in southern Chios. Growers score the bark in summer, and the resin hardens into droplets that are collected, cleaned and sorted by hand. The know-how of cultivating mastic on Chios is inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage, and Chios mastic is a protected product.
The Chios Mastic Museum, on a hillside near Pyrgi, explains the cultivation and processing and the history of the trade, with views over the groves. In the villages you will find mastic used in sweets, liqueur, chewing gum and cosmetics; the mastiha liqueur and the white "submarine" sweet served on a spoon in a glass of water are local staples.
Nea Moni, in the mountains west of Chios Town, is an eleventh-century monastery founded with imperial patronage under Constantine IX Monomachos. Its church contains some of the finest Middle Byzantine mosaics in Greece, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Daphni near Athens and Hosios Loukas in Boeotia. The monastery was badly damaged in 1822 and in an earthquake in 1881, so parts are reconstructed; check opening times before driving up, and dress modestly.
Further west, Anavatos is an abandoned medieval village built on a steep rock. During the Ottoman reprisals of 1822, known as the Massacre of Chios and depicted by Delacroix, many of its inhabitants are said to have thrown themselves from the cliff rather than be captured. The empty stone houses climbing to the summit are an affecting place to walk, but the paths are steep and uneven.
Chios Town and Kambos
Chios Town is built around its harbour and the Byzantine-Genoese castle, inside which an old quarter of narrow streets survives. The town has archaeological, Byzantine and maritime museums, and the Korais Library, one of the oldest public libraries in Greece.
Just south of town, Kambos is a flat area of walled citrus estates once owned by wealthy merchant families. The stone mansions, water wheels and high walls are best seen on foot or by bicycle along the narrow lanes. On the north side of town, Vrontados is known for Daskalopetra, a rock-cut site traditionally linked to Homer, and for its Easter "rocket war", in which two parishes fire home-made rockets at each other's church on Easter Saturday night.
Beaches and the North
The best-known beach is Mavra Volia at Emporios, on the south-east coast, a bay of black volcanic pebbles below a rocky headland. Nearby Komi has sand and tavernas, and the west coast around the mastic villages has smaller coves reached by dirt roads.
The north is the least visited part of the island. Volissos, a village below a Byzantine castle, is the main centre, with beaches such as Managros below it and mountain villages inland. Roads are winding and services sparse, so plan fuel and meals.
Getting There
Chios has an airport with domestic flights from Athens and ferries from Piraeus, usually overnight, as well as links to Lesbos, Samos and other north Aegean islands. Small ferries cross to ΓeΕme on the Turkish coast in a short trip, which makes Chios a common entry point for combining Greece and Turkey; carry your passport and check visa rules for both countries.
