Chios Island is well known for one thing: the mastic. But did you know that it actually can only be produced in the south of our Island? This and many other things can be discovered in the Mastic Museum near the village Pyrgi.
On the 26th of September, we volunteers had the chance to make a trip to the Mastichochoria in the South of the Island. The Mastichochoria is a group of villages in the South of Chios, where the mastic tree is cultivated. In the middle of this region you can find the Chios Mastic Museum. The museum is very modern, as it only opened in 2016. Of course we volunteers knew already something about Mastic and also tasted it before, but throughout our visit, we could discover new facts we didn’t know before. Our highlights were the cinema where you learn about the history of Mastic as well as about the history of Chios, the exhibition of machines for the production of Mastic gum which you can also activate and the outdoor part, where you walk through Mastic trees. This was especially nice because we could see the ‘Tears of Chios Island’, so the natural resin of the tree in real life.
As we already were in the Mastichochoria, we continued our trip to one of the typical Mastic villages: Pyrgi. Pyrgi is not only known for the production of Mastic, but also for its famous black and white painted facades. We enjoyed walking around the village, trying out Mastic gum and liquor and visiting one of the oldest byzantine churches.
As we still had some time left, we decided to stop at one of our favourite beaches on the way back: Mavra Volia, the black beach near the village Emporios. The black pebbles are a result of a volcano eruption hundreds of years ago. Although the weather didn’t allow us to go swimming, Mavra Volia is always worth a visit and it was amazing to see the scenery without any tourists.
We are very happy to slowly discover more about our Island and visit new places time by time.
To see all pictures, go to our gallery!
