Talking Location with Kathryn Gauci: CHIOS

30th October 2025

#TalkingLocationWith… Kathryn Gauci, author of Aegean Odyssey: A Memoir, set on Chios in the Greek Islands

My 15th book, An Aegean Odyssey: A Memoir, is not only about my 2005 trip to Greece – a country so dear to my heart – in search of the Old-World Greece that I experienced when I lived there in the 1970s, but also, the pursuit of a dream to become a writer. When I set out on my Aegean odyssey, the first island on my list was Chios, The Resin Isle. All Greek islands have crystal-clear waters and inviting beachside tavernas and Chios is no exception, but what Chios offered was a rich layer of history and dramatic landscape of diverse beauty. It also has some of the best loukoumades I’ve ever tasted.

Colorful history

Icon from Nea Moni

It was Eugene Delacroix’s 1824 painting, Scenes from the Massacre at Chios, which first inspired me to go there. This painting helped shift Western governments’ attitudes towards supporting the Greeks to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1822. Thousands of Chiotes took refuge in the Byzantine monastery of Nea Moni. Many were slaughtered while others were destined for slavery. Built by the Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos and his wife, Zoe, in 1042–1055, Nea Moni is set in a peaceful, mountainous landscape with panoramic views across the sea towards Turkey. Some of the finest mosaics in Byzantine art remain to give us a glimpse of how beautiful the church once was. The exquisite work was created by artists from the imperial workshops of Constantinople that created those in the Hagia Sophia. It is now a World Heritage UNESCO site.

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Homer and more

Chios has been important for centuries. Homer is reputed to be from here and it had a renowned school of sculpture in the 6th and 5th centuries BC when Greek art was laying the groundwork for the Classical style. Throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods, it exported excellent wines much sought after by wine connoisseurs of the day. Homer mentions them in The Odyssey. It produced fine ship builders and some of the most important ship owners in Greece were Chiotes, descendants of the Genoese who ruled from 1346 until 1566. Christopher Columbus also spent time there, recruiting sailors for his voyage to the New World.

Fragrant fruit

Outside the Village walls, Mesta

The island produces an abundance of agricultural produce that has made it a gourmet paradise: citrus fruit, pomegranates, peaches, and figs. Early travellers mention the sea air being “filled with the fragrance of citrus fruits as their ships neared the island”. I can vouch for the local produce, as I tasted it wherever I went.

A silken legacy

There once was a thriving silk industry and women of the day were described as “some of the most beautiful of all the Greeks, exceedingly proud and sumptuous in apparel –in gowns of satin and taffeta; yea in cloth of gold and silver”. One can only imagine the beauty.

Only in Chios

Cutting a mastic tree

Nowadays, it is mastic that Chios is most famous for. Once as highly prized as frankincense and myrrh, mastic is a resin from the Lentisk tree, and its medicinal properties were known since antiquity. It was the Genoese, who organised the trade and constructed the fortified Mastichochoria villages in the south of Chios. Mastic was so highly prized because it can only be harvested between July and early September and a fully grown tree yields approximately two hundred grams of mastic a year. Another reason is that mastic trees only grow in this part of the island due to underwater volcanic activity six million years ago. Under the Ottomans, the mastic villages came under the patronage of the Sultan’s mother. No one could enter or leave these villages without authorization. Anyone caught with even a “tear” of mastic could be executed. Thankfully, those days are long gone, and I left with nuggets of gum and products guaranteed to make me as beautiful as Cleopatra.

So much to explore

Mesta Limani featured in The Embroiderer

With so such history and beauty, is it any wonder that after my journey, an important part of my first historical novel –The Embroiderer (2014) – was set in Chios? Chios is a must-see. You, too, can explore its colorful history, sought-after mastic, and more. Join me in An Aegean Odyssey: A Memoir, with stops in Athens, Chios, Crete, Karpathos, Lesbos, and Rhodes. It’s available now.

Kathryn Gauci

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All photos © Kathryn Gauci

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