Chios, the sweet-smelling island of mastiha (mastic), of shipowners and of the Kampos (Plain). An island with a long history and vast literature; Homer’s homeland, beautiful, and unique.

It is the fifth largest Greek island located in the Eastern Aegean, just 3,5 miles from the Turkish coast of Cesme and the Peninsula of Eritrea. With a history starting from Mythical Times, the island meets Homer, the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, the Venetians, and the Genovese, it flourishes and becomes great due to the mastiha and the shipping industry, it survives the Ottomans, until life was violently interrupted in 1822 during the great slaughter. Since 1832 it strives to recover, in 1912 it rejoins the rest of Independent Greece, and it develops the arts and trade, it gets lost among the perfumes of the Plain and it harvests its mastiha bushes.

Evergreen shrubs exist in the entire Mediterranean, however, mastiha is only produced in the south part of Chios. Even though efforts have been made to transfer its production to other places, those have failed. This paradox is the result of methodic selective breeding which started centuries ago as the inhabitants of Chios spotted and multiplied in new cultivations those trees which produced more and better quality resin. So, in time, a new type of shrub was created, which has been recognized as an endemic species, also known as the mastiha tree. Thus, mastiha constitutes the main natural treasure of the islands, which was exploited, in turn, by the Venetians, the Genovese, and the Ottomans. In the areas producing mastiha, cities with castles were created, such as Mesta, Olympoi, Vessa, Vounos etc, so that merchants could protect the monopoly of their production form pirates or other intruders. Because of the mastiha, important privileges were given to the people of Chios, who developed commerce and shipping at the same time. Mastiha’s fame is followed worthily by the mandarin from Chios, perhaps the most aromatic mandarin in the world, a local product which gave power and money to the area of Kampos, characterized by its rich mansions and vast, fragrant citrus fields. Mandarins, lemons, oranges, figs, watermelons, Armenian cucumbers and almonds are, among others, some of the most famous products from which excellent spoon sweets and juices are produced, and thus other spoon sweets such as the mandarin submarine or mandarin candies without sugar follow suit. Another excellent product of Chios is the soft cheese named mastelo, a cheese made from cow milk, appropriate for grilling, with an excellent flavor and its own aromatic character, which unavoidably gives its name to this type of cheese, while it has been mainly identified with Chios. Most people don’t know it, but “Chios” is also directly connected with ouzo, with many distilleries presenting their interesting labels, while the growing in popularity fresh beer from Chios is one of the most noteworthy projects of the island.