02/09/2020
CHIOS
• The 5th largest island of Greece,
• 3rd in sunshine and 1st in clear days,
• 91 beaches
• 64 villages
• 91 of the 108 orchids in Europe grow in Chios.
• Agioi Apostoloi in Pyrgi is an exact copy of Agia Irini in Constantinople
• Lalades or tulips in South Chios adorn the fields of the island every March.
• Rocket War Easter. Famous and explosive on the night of the Resurrection. The parishes of Agios Markos and Panagia Erythiani in Vrontados celebrate the Resurrection of the Godman as nowhere else.
• Painted village (Pyrgi). The only one in Greece.
• The New Monastery together with the Monastery of Saint Luke in Boeotia and the Monastery of Daphni are the only Byzantine monasteries that survive in Greece in good condition. The mosaics of the New Monastery of Chios are one of the three leading creations of the visual arts in Greece during the Middle Ages. It is celebrated during the performance of the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (August 23). In 1990 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The artists who worked here were from Constantinople, who came directly from the city and carried with them their style, similar to that which decorated the imperial palaces and is now lost.
• 10th largest island in the Mediterranean
• The Volcanic beaches of Emporio. The visitor has the opportunity to swim or just enjoy 3 beaches (Mavra Volia) that are the product of a volcanic eruption in historical times.
• Christopher Columbus passed through Chios and took Chian sailors and cartographers for his explorations. According to others, it originates from the island. Many families in Pyrgi bear his surname.
• Three great, and otherwise subversive, personalities from the field of letters have been born in Chios (Korais, Psycharis, Souris). Other great people from the field of art and science: Emmanouil Roidis, Fotis Agoules, Nikos Gialouris (painter), Stamatis Krimizis (physicist), Dimos Avdeliodis (director), Matthaios Mountes
• The only remote island in Greece that is so close from the 3rd largest city in Turkey, Izmir. At the same time it is only 7 km from ancient Ionia.
• The wine of North Chios was called by the ancients, nectar of the gods (Ariousios Wine).
• 250 mansions built with incense stone are preserved in the Plain of Chios. An area 10 km long and 3 km wide.
• Most shipping families in Greece come from Chios (Libanou, Chandri, Lo, Lemou, Andreadi, Patsou, Patera, Fafaliou, Tsakou, Frangou, Xyla and others).
• The countryside of Chios is similar to that of Tuscany in Italy.
• Mikis Theodorakis and Andreas Papandreou were born in Chios.
• First mint in Greece in antiquity
• First form of Democracy even before that of Solon.
• Great diversity and richness in the local costumes of each village, even neighboring
• Mastic
• Popular expressions for Chios in antiquity: Chian life (Chian tables Chia banks, Chia life, Chios gelos)
• Population in Chios until the 18th century 120,000 inhabitants
According to one version, Chios is the birthplace of Homer as well as the mathematicians Hippocrates and Inopides.
• The Public Historical Central Library of Chios "Korais" on the island of Chios is one of the most important in Greece (3rd in size). There are about 250,000 volumes in her collection.
• Chios has a completely different architecture from North to South and the only part that is architecturally similar to the Cyclades (all buildings are white) is the seaside settlement of Agia Fotini or Agia Fotia.
Chios is surrounded by the sister islands of Oinousses and Psara, where Konstantinos Kanaris, the hero of the 1821 revolution for the independence of Greece, came from.
• Chios maintains special ties with Syros in the Cyclades and Ermoupolis was built by wealthy Chians, people of letters and merchants who were there after the massacre of 1822, where they found a hospitable second home.
• Another name of Chios was Pityousa probably because of the many pines that existed especially in its northern part. Another name for it was Ariousa from the "arion" tree, which is a kind of oak-prinos. The arias (oak) covered a large part of northwestern Chios ....... !!!!!!
