Chios: mastic and medieval villages of the Aegean

Unique worldwide for mastic production, a resin cultivated for centuries, Chios preserves medieval fortified villages against pirate raids.

A rental car remains useful for reaching the mastic villages.

The Castle of Chios, a Genoese and later Ottoman fortress, dominates the main port of the island with walls still almost entirely intact.

A few minutes away, the Monastery of Nea Moni, a UNESCO World Heritage site from the eleventh century, houses Byzantine mosaics among the best preserved in all of Greece.

Continuing south, you reach the mastic villages, such as Pyrgi and Mesta, built in a fortified style with houses decorated by white and black geometric motifs.

As evening falls, the cafés of Chios Town waterfront enliven the shoreline with views of the Turkish coast just visible on the horizon.

Chios mastic, a resin extracted from trees growing naturally only in the southern part of the island, was so precious in Ottoman times that its theft was punished with death, and it continues to be used today in perfumery and pharmaceuticals.

The village of Pyrgi, known as the 'painted village,' decorates its house façades with hand-carved geometric patterns according to a traditional technique called 'xysta.'