Chios is one of the biggest greek islands. It is located near the coast of Turkey!
And is one of the greek islands you should visit. So let’s dive into some trivia and facts!
- Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands
- It is situated in the Aegean Sea
- 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) off the Anatolian coast
- The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait
- Chios is notable for its exports of mastic gum
- Its nickname is “the Mastic Island”
- Tourist attractions include its medieval villages and the 11th-century monastery of Nea Moni
- This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Chios regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region
- The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Chios
- Locals refer to Chios town as Chora
- But usually refers to the capital or a settlement at the highest point of a Greek island
- It was also the site of the Chios massacre
- In which tens of thousands of Greeks on the island were massacred by Ottoman troops during the Greek War of Independence in 1822
- Chios island is crescent or kidney shaped, 50 km (31 mi) long from north to south, and 29 km (18 mi) at its widest
- Covering an area of 842.289 km2 (325.210 sq mi)
- The terrain is mountainous and arid
- With a ridge of mountains running the length of the island
- The two largest of these mountains, Pelineon (1,297 m (4,255 ft)) and Epos (1,188 m (3,898 ft))
- They are situated in the north of the island
- The center of the island is divided between east and west by a range of smaller peaks, known as Provatas
- Known as Ophioússa and Pityoussa in antiquity
- During the later Middle Ages the island was ruled by a number of non-Greek powers and was known as Scio (Genoese), Chio (Italian) and Sakız
- The capital during that time was Kastron
- According to the 2011 census, Chios has a permanent resident population of 52,674
- The local merchant shipping community transports several locally grown products
- Including mastic, olives, figs, wine, mandarins, and cherries
- Sporadically for some time at early 19th century to 1950s there was mining activity on the island at Keramos Antimony Mines
- Nea Moni is a monastery with fine mosaics from Constantine IX’s reign and a World Heritage Site
- An ancient inscription (at Chios Archaeological Museum) from a fifth-century funerary monument for Heropythos the son of Philaios
- Traced his family back over fourteen generations to Kyprios at the tenth century BC
- Before there were any written records in Greece
- Castle of Chios, a Byzantine fort built in the 10th century
- The town of Vrontados is home to a unique Easter celebration
- There competing teams of locals gather at the town’s two (rival) churches to fire tens of thousands of homemade rockets at the other church’s bell tower
- While the Easter service is going on inside the churches
- In what has become known as rouketopolemos
