Chios Χίος Overview

Chios is most famous for mastic, a unique evergreen resin used since antiquity in medicines, cosmetics, candy, and chewing gum. Mastic forms the cornerstone of this diverse island’s tourist industry, and is also the key to Chios’s historical safety and prosperity. Alexander the Great had a taste for the tree, as did the sultans who allowed Chios special privileges during Turkish rule in the 16th and 17th centuries in return for an endless supply of chewing gum. Chios is also reportedly the birthplace of Homer, who recited his poems at Daskalopetra. Today, Chios is home to loud and glitzy Chios town, serene mastic groves, Genoese mansions, and architecturally diverse inland villages like Mesta and Pyrgi.

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