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Chios

Chios is one of the Northeastern Aegean Islands. It is just a few miles off the coast of Asia Minor and about midway between the islands of Samos and Lesvos. The distance from the port a Piraeus is about 165 miles, though you can reach Chios by air in less than 40 minutes.

The island has an area of about 840 sq. kilometers, and it is the fifth largest island in Greece, after Crete, Evoia, Rhodes, and Lesvos. The length of the coastline is more than 200 km. The Prefecture of Chios (905 sq. km) includes also two smaller inhabited islands, Psara and Innousses Chios can be reached either by sea or by air. The main connections are with Athens and Piraeus, and the islands of Samos and Lesvos. There are also regular connections with some other major Greek cities, including Thessaloniki, Kavala, Alexandroupolis, and the islands of Kos, Rhodes, Patmos, Lemnos etc. most connections are served by both sea and air.

Chios is also one of the few places in Greece from where you can visit Turkey. There is a year-around boat connection with the Turkish city of Cesme on the Asia Minor Coast, though the boat service is more frequent during the summer period.

Today Chios (Chora, as it is known locally) is the capital of the prefecture and has approximately 25.000 inhabitants. The headquarters of the Public Services, the Administration and the Cathedral are all located here; it is also the point from which all communications with the outside world originate, both by sea and by air, and the centre of the island's commerce and industry. The city covers a wide, almost flat area, with semi-urban districts extending as far as Campos in the south and Vrontadhos in the north, which may be regarded as a suburb. To the west the city is limited by hills and to the north by the foothills of Aipos. Towards the east the horizon broadens out and offers a view of the Asia Minor Coast.

The modern city is a bustling port and a commercial city, not obviously picturesque and not especially geared for foreign tourists, but a city that offers several diversions to those who like to truly visit a foreign locale. Most of the hotels, restaurants, cafes, gift shops, ticket and travel agencies and such facilities are located around the large harbour quay-road, but visitors should make a point also to walk and explore some of the old streets.

Modern Chios has overgrown the site of the ancient city, but a few remains of the walls and the theater are still to be seen. Much more impressive are the remains of the medieval fortress on the northern edge of the town; originally a Byzantine fort, it was greatly enlarged by the Genoese in the 14th century. When the Turks took over Chios in the 16th century they also built their own structures over the Genoese houses within the citadel.

Northern Chios offers the visitor a completely different view than the rest of the island. Small villages on top of the high mountains and deserted settlements; it often gives the feeling of a place forgotten in time. The Northwest villages (Langada, Pantoukios) and the town of Kardamyla have been modernized and most of the people are seafarers and ship owners. However, in the Northeast, around the mountains Pelineon and Amani, primitive agriculture is the main source of income, and even today the sight of a tourist is not so common.

Chios offers a great variety of beaches, ranging from cosmopolitan sandy beaches, which offer full services, to isolated lagoons where one can enjoy the primitive beauty of the Aegean sea and sun. Some of the most popular beaches are located near the city of Chios, while some others are more distant. Crowded and popular or distant and little-known, all beaches in Chios have crystal clear water and clean sand or pebble stones.

The area to the south of the city is known as Kambos. It is completely flat and a dense network of small roads cover it. Most of the land is planted with citrus trees. The orchards are individually surrounded by high stone fences to protect the trees form wind and dust. The scenery of Kambos is distinctive and bears little resemblance to that of the other Aegean Islands.

The aristocratic families of Chios, both Genoese and native, built houses on their private estates which date back to as early as the fourteenth century. Behind the high, forbidding walls, each estate is a world of its own, with pleasant courtyards, comfortable houses, shady avenues of trees, and flower gardens.

Just 7 kilometers Southwest from the town of Chios, is Vavili. Between Neochorio and Sklavia, one would think that it is built in a "pit" and around it, to the South, appears the mountain of Anemona and in the Northwest, is the hill of Sklavia.

The 200 citizens there are occupied with agriculture. Their gardens are located in the West side of the village, on the side of Sklavia, where there are plenty of wells with water. They produce many premature gardening products and they are very famous for their, sweet and easy cooked beans of Vavili. There is also a small production of mastic Architectural and other sculptures from the Early Christian period. Sculptures from Byzantine, Genoese, Islamic and post-Byzantine periods are also to be found there.

Undoubtedly, mastic is the most known product of Chios, but it is not the only unique souvenir a visitor can take with him when leaving the island.
 

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