God’s Lair – Chios & Inousses

The mastic grows in many other islands of the Aegean Sea but nowhere else represents the local culture like in Chios. Chios is the birthplace of Homer whose hypothetical house inVolissos we visit on the way to the Venetian Fort that is perched on the top of a hill from where the views over the sea are remarkable. We continue our visit to Anavatos, with its tragic history, that recently started to renovate its stone houses, and to the beautiful church of Nea Moni. After a night spent in the island of Inousses, maybe the only islands in Greece without tourist, we continue to the southern part of the island of Chios to the medieval town of Mesta with it’s winding narrow streets that merge in squares full of restaurantsand the picturesque town of Pyrgi, a major center for mastic production, whose houses have the walls decorated in monochrome motives using a technique named xysta and where we delve into the political implications of the mastic that was able in history to save lives.