Explore Chios

PLACES OF INTEREST – Chios South Region

Kampos

Located 6.6km south of Chios town, Kampos is famous for its impressive Genovese mansions surrounded by orchards full of citrus trees mainly orange and mandarin trees of the Chios variety. It’s ideal for walking or cycling in a stunning landscape that will captivate you with its natural beauty and impressive mansion entrance doors.

Pyrgi

Located 25km south of Chios town, Pyrgi is known as the “painted village,” and is famous for its intricate decorative patterns on the façades of buildings. It is the largest medieval mastic-producing village on the island, located 25 km from the town of Chios. Don’t miss the Byzantine Church of the Holy Apostles.

Masticha Museum

Located 25 km from Chios town, the Mastiha Museum is an impressive building harmoniously integrated into a hillside covered with mastic trees. It is dedicated to Chios’s prized product, mastiha – a fragrant resin produced by the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus var. Chia), which grows throughout the Mediterranean but is cultivated to yield resin only in Chios.
The museum’s exhibits showcase traditional mastic cultivation, along with the history and culture of mastiha, through an interactive multimedia experience. Visitors can touch and smell the mastiha and learn about the architecture, history, and social structure of the mastic villages. It also presents the history of the Chios Gum Mastic Growers Association, the production process, uses and exports of mastiha worldwide. The exhibition includes videos, models, machinery from the first mastiha factory, and multimedia applications. Outside, visitors can walk through an actual mastic grove.

Olympoi Medieval Village

Located 30km south of Chios town, Olympoi is a fortified village with its outermost houses forming a defensive wall. At the village square, you’ll find the Church of Agia Paraskevi with its wooden iconostasis, and the “Olympoi Table,” a well-preserved two-storey medieval building with elongated halls. Be sure to visit the impressive Olympoi Cave, which is situated approx. 5km south of the village and is known for its spectacular stalactites and stalagmites.

Mesta Medieval Village

Located 35km southwest of the city of Chios, Mesta is the best-preserved medieval village on the island. The small, stone houses are built tightly together, forming a strong protective wall around the settlement. A major attraction is the Church of the Old Taxiarchis, a 15th-century monument featuring one of the oldest surviving wooden iconostases in Chios. While strolling through the alleys of Mesta, don’t miss trying the famous “Kanellos” loukoumades (Greek doughnuts – sweet and savory!).