CHIOS

Chios lies in the Aegean Sea, south of Lesvos, north of Samos and just 5.5km from the coast of Turkey.

This is the fifth largest island in Greece but still small enough to offer you a very special kind of hospitality and culture.

Like many of the Greek islands, Chios has a colourful and sometimes violent past. Today you will find superbly preserved medieval villages, Byzantine monasteries, interesting architecture showing the various influences of the island rulers throughout it's history and of course, ancient monuments and an abundance of churches and monasteries.

Traditionally it is said that Homer lived around the era of the Trojan War in an Ionic settlement, believed to be Chios. If he was indeed a resident, it is likely that he made his living as a court singer and storyteller. He later wrote the two most famous Greek tomes, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

There are many myths and legends as to why the island is named Chios or Xhios. Perhaps the most well known and popular is that of 'Poseidon and the Nymph'. According to mythology the island took its name from the son of Poseidon. Poseidon is the Greek God of the Sea, also known as Neptune. Having reached the island, the great God chose to rest a while... and lay with a nymph. Her childbirth as a result of the tryst was so painful, that there was a snowstorm so Poseidon christened his son Chios taken from the Greek word Chionis, which means snow.

Great Gods and legends aside, excavations prove that the island has been populated since prehistoric times. The Ionians were the first colonists of the island, creating a thriving civilization.

Chios became an important island both in economic and logistical terms and was known throughout the world for it's seafarers and navel power. It is said the the Chian's had one of the largest fleets in the history of Greece.

Today, according to the Chian's of course, there are a larger number of serving captains and sea workers in the shipping lines and merchant marine service of Greece from Chios than any other island.

The production of wine also played an important role in the economic growth of the island. Later, when the island joined the Athenian the inhabitants of Chios were called to fight against Philip of Macedonia and Alexander the Great. The battle was lost and Chios remained first under the Macedonian rule, and then that of the Romans.

The island prospered once again under the dominance of the Genoese's, which lasted from 1336 until 1566 when the island was finally conquered by the Turks. Despite what one may initially think, history shows that under this reign the inhabitants enjoyed a prosperous period and continued their growing economic activities.

However, they were also strongly opposed to Turkish rule and in 1822 there was a massacre on the island when a young hero named Konstantinos Kanaris burned the Turkish flag ship at sea.

The fortress in the town of Chios, the island's capital is a monument to the struggles of defense faced by the Chian's throughout the centuries.