Mastic Villages

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„Mastichochoria" is an area, full of this kind of tree, situated in the south coast of the island. There are here 27 traditional villages with settlements built like fortresses. It's a very beautiful and traditional part of the island. From June until September, the tourists can see everywhere the mastic collectors working. Mastic has been known since antiquity for its medicinal properties. It's produced exclusively on this island and it was always the most important and expensive wealth of this island. It's used in chewing gum, for facial creams and other cosmetics, in medicine, as a flavoring in distilleries and confectionery shops, basic to high quality lacquers for furniture and musical instruments, as a stabiliser of colours in textile factories and painting, in perfume factories.

Pyrgi is a large touristical medieval village. The inhabitants could enter and leave the village only trough a door. It's famous because „xysta", the unique decoration of facade with geometric and natural motifs. The roots of this ornamentation dates from the time of Genoese rule and it'a a reminiscence of the Italian Sgraffito. You can see here narrow and cobbled roads, houses with thick structure, several churches, a defense refuge tower with a movable bridge. In the middle of the village there is a Byzantine Church of St. Apostles, built in 13th century, with the same decor of the outer walls.
Close to Pyrgi, you can visit the cave of Olympi, one of the most remarkable caves in the Balkans, with the largest number of stalactites and stalagmites per square meter.

Mesta is one of the best preserved village-fort. It's a medieval village with elaborate Byzantine architecture. The village it's built like a castle, for the fear of pirates in the middle ages, with very well preserved architecture.

The houses are small and made of stone, one next to the other. All together looks like a strong protective wall in the outer perimeter of the settlement.

Traditional fests and carnivals are organised many times through the year, in Mesta.

The church of the Older Taxiarchi, in Mesta, is a basilica. It have an ornate carved wooden iconostasis, a fine piece of Chian wood sculpture.

The streets are narrow, stone-paved. Everwere there are archways supporting the structures, as well as vaults and arches supporting the rooms.