page_title: Chios
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Chios / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Koraes Public Library in ChiosΕλληνικά: Εξωτερική Όψη Βιβλιοθήκης Χίου "Κοραής"
context_page_description: Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic gum and its nickname is "the Mastic Island". Tourist attractions include its medieval villages and the 11th-century monastery of Nea Moni, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Chios regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Chios. Locals refer to Chios town as Chora.
  It was also the site of the Chios massacre, in which tens of thousands of Greeks on the island were massacred by Ottoman troops during the Greek War of Independence in 1822.
context_section_description: Nea Moni is a monastery with fine mosaics from Constantine IX's reign and a World Heritage Site.
  An ancient inscription (at Chios Archaeological Museum) from a fifth-century funerary monument for Heropythos the son of Philaios, traced his family back over fourteen generations to Kyprios at the tenth century BC, before there were any written records in Greece.
  Forts
  Castle of Chios, a Byzantine fort built in the 10th century
  St. George's church
  Museums
  Chios Byzantine Museum
  The Chios Mastic Museum
  Archaeological Museum of Chios
  Chios Maritime Museum
  Traditions
  The town of Vrontados is home to a unique Easter celebration, where competing teams of locals gather at the town's two (rival) churches to fire tens of thousands of homemade rockets at the other church's bell tower while the Easter service is going on inside the churches, in what has become known as rouketopolemos.
  Sports
  F.C. Lailapas (Chios town)
  NC Chios, water polo
  Panchiakos GS
  Media
  Alithia TV
  Chiakos Laos, newspaper
  Politis, newspaper
  Dimokratiki, newspaper
caption: Adamantios Korais public library of Chios town.
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