The story

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THE GOLDEN SEAL

The Messenger

Emperor Constantine IX in Constantinopolis In the year of the Lord 1042

You just need immediately dispatch a messenger to the island of Chios to bring the imperial order to general Zyvos, who is residing in the Castle of Chios. The messenger shall leave with the first available ship from the Queen City to bring the news to Chios. He shall not use a commercial ship, but should embark a quick sailing dromon, which has 100 oars and 200 oarsmen in service.

The messenger shall be very skilled in military matters and armed to the teeth. He will carry namely an official decree, which I have signed with my name in the imperial red ink and stamped with the imperial golden seal. The message is this: I will lay the foundations of a Monastery in honor of Maria, the mother of our Saviour, in the island of Chios.

The messenger shall meet also three holy men, Nikitas, John and Joseph, who prophesied, to me, while I was in exile in the nearby island of Mytilene, that I would ascend the throne. These pious brothers have asked me to build a Monastery, should the prophecy be fulfilled. Now I am committed to fulfill my promise.

As for expenses, do not worry because gold is flowing from the public treasury, like a stream slushing up from bounteous springs. The Imperial Treasury shall exclude the Monastery from all taxes. The State Treasury shall pay for materials and highly skilled architects and masters of the mosaics and other knowledgeable artisans from the Imperial Workshops and have them sent to Chios to build the Monastery.

The Rumors

Andronikos, Grand Treasurer of the Emperor in Constantinopolis

Our Emperor Constantine ordered me to send armed men to the island of Chios to bring the news about the founding of a Monastery. And so, it will be. But I heard some rumors at the Court, that an imposter monk was sent to the island Mytilene to Constantine, then in exile, to prophecy his ascend to the throne.

Now he decided to build this Monastery. I was ordered to exclude it from taxation, also from important taxes like the food and animal taxes, the taxes for the shipbuilding and the roads and the military expenses, the donations to the tax collectors, house taxes and commercial taxes of any kind and all of the duties that are imposed to the populace.

My secret thought is this: the money for the soldiers and the revenues devoted to the army, will now be quite unnecessarily diverted and put aside for other uses… There are rumors spread in the Court, that our Emperor Constantine, his wife, Empress Zoe, already wife of three Emperors and the Emperor’s mistress lead a lavish life without any prudence

The Mission

Nikephoros, Master of the Imperial Equerry

My mission is to execute the imperial order and sail to Chios, which lies precisely in the middle of our Empire: half way from the Queen City, Constantinopolis, and half way from Alexandria to the south. Through its position Chios is connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. After the seaward castle and the new harbor were built there, many noblemen and officials from the Queen City moved to Chios, homeland to many unique and expensive merchandise and monopolies: besides the cultivation of mastic, wine and cloths also husbandry with the most productive sheep, called Chian sheep, and naval affairs flourished. In the Forum of Constantinopolis the bankers from Chios exchange all kinds of currencies and putting into circulation new coins old and silver coins. Thus, I gladly execute the emperor’s order and sail to Chios, - and who knows, maybe I find my match there. It’s high time I started to think about marriage.

On the ship I met the the archictect, who has great plans for how to let the sun light into the Monastery and how to build a cistern for fresh water, as big as those in Constantinopolis!

The master of the mosaics comes from the Imperial Workshop. He is is quite excited that he will work in full freedom to decorate the Monastery and he already has a plan how to depict the life of the Lord: the Βaptism of the Lord in the Jordan River, the Transfiguration, where our Lord shines with the bright light of life, the Betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane with Judas kissing Christ, the Crucifixion's with Mother Mary and Ioannis mourning under the Cross, and the Resurrection.

I don’t know doubt that it will be a splendid Monastery, as the ship is full of precious materials and skilled artists. Thus, are rowing at full speed to reach the shores of Chios intact, hoping that good weather will keep the sea calm.

THE SETTLERS

Arts and artisans

Nikephoros, beekeeper from Anavatos In the year of the Lord 1115

The first settlers came here by the edict of the Emperor Constantine Monomachos in 1042. While he was in exile from the Court in the island of Mytilene, three monks, Nikitas, John and Joseph have prophesied to him, that he would become Emperor in Constantinopolis, and when the prophesy is fulfilled, he should honor the Virgin Mary and build a monastery in the island of Chios. And he kept his promise.

The best artists, laborers and artisans were sent from Constantinopolis to Chios to build the New Monastery called Nea Moni. First arrived the woodcutters, who set to look for high quality timber in the locations close to the construction site. This is how they became enchanted by the beauty of the place. With hard work and enthusiasm our ancestors founded our village. Fond of the green area they planted olive trees, cultivated vine, set up beehives, and prepared the aromatic wine, which gave our village fame.

THE BUILDERS

Solid as the rock

Alexios Dalassinos from Avgonyma In the year of the Lord 1180

Avgonima, the village, where my father was born in the year of the Lord 1130, was created by the workers who came to build the new monastery, Nea Moni, ordered by the Emperor Constantine IX. They then remained in Chios for more than ten years to build the whole complex: the Church, the great cistern, the refectory. Our village lies in the center of the island looking at the blue marvel of the Aegean Sea. It is surrounded by woods at the top of the mountain and is built in a solid way with stone masonry and thick walls. Knowing that many pirates are coming to our lands, we built the village harmonized with nature, so it is difficult to see it from the long distance. The houses are built of stone and with small windows that protect us from pirate raids.

My late father, Nikolaos, left the village to become a sailor, a usual profession in the island. However, during his sailing time, he proved to be talented in commerce and this is how I have become a merchant myself. However nowadays the sailing and mercantile activities are connected with many risks as many enemies look into our direction, the Venetians, the Crusaders and the Normans, not to mentions the Arabs and the Seljuks. Chios, famous for its mastic products, is a frequent target of pirates thus the village of my ancestors has become a small fortress itself.

PRIVILEGES

Merchants and Bankers

Benedetto da Canetto from Genova In the year of the Lord 1346

We are merchants my dear! We work to gain profit. It’s a trade that our ancestors started 300 hundred years ago, when Genova was a small city. They managed to expand and built a naval empire that would include several cities in the East, parts of the Crimea, and several cities on the island of Cyprus. Genova, our city and republic benefits from its position on the world map, connecting the east and the west through its excellent harbor and naval power. Our wealth started with the Crusades: a variety of different goods like wine, olive oil, and wool was needed and we began to sale them to these new trading ports in the Holy Lands.

Did you know, that the famous blue wool cloth being sold to all mariners was created in Genova? The cloth became popular among sailors at the time due to its durability much needed in the seafaring conditions. We use alum in the dying process to ensure the durability of the cloth colour. But how did we get the best alum mines of the Empire? Let me tell this and many other stories!

In the year of the Lord 1204, our competitors, the Venetians, managed to deviate the 4th Crusade going to the Holy Lands towards the gem of the cities, Constantinopolis. Their motive was sheer greed and with the help of the Francs they conquered the Queen of Cities, destroying all the treasures and attacking the fellow Christians. Since then, the vision of all Greek rulers was to re-capture the Queen City from the the Francs and re-establish the Empire. And this day came sooner than expected!

In 1261 the ruler of Nicaea in Asia Minor, Michael, has asked us to assist him with our fleet recapture the Queen City because we have not participated the horrible conquest in 1204. For this reason, he granted us the alum mines of Phocaea. It was a great gain as these mines helped establish our clothing industry, which is unique in the West. I must admit that in July 1261, before the arrival of our ships at the port of Constantinopolis, Michael recaptured the city, but he but kept his promises to us, when he was crowned Emperor: we hold now the privileges the Venetians had in the capital, we are rulers of Smyrna and own the alum mines of Phocaea. In 1267 we settled in Pera, our own quarter in the Queen City and from there we created new colonies in the Crimea, at the mouth of the river Danube and the river Don, which allowed us to reach the Black Sea.

The Black Death

As traders we have met the Mongols, who control vast area of Eurasia, from the shores of the Baltic Sea to the Crimean Peninsula and to the Lake of Aral in Central Asia. The stability of their empire allowed us to build in Caffa, our colony and the terminal station of the Silk Route. In addition to the Chinese products, the Mongols sold furs and slaves to us. However, in the year 1346 there were undesired travellers from Caffa to Constantinopolis: rats spread the disease called the Black Death, which reduced the population of Europe by one-third! But thankfully in the same year we managed to sign the surrender of Chios to us.

Shareholders

Giovanni di Murta, Doge of the Republic of Genova

Our competitors, the Venetians, hold in the West the island of Corfu and in the East of the Moditerannean Sea Negroponte and Candia. We were striving to ensure a secure trading post along the route to Constantinopolis. This chance was offered to us with island of Chios and its famous mastic monopoly. Back then the finances of our Republic were in poor health, we asked the rich traders for loans to be repaid after the completion of an expedition under admiral Simone Vignoso. We promised to these traders the revenues of the island of Chios and the alum mines of Phocaea, already given to us from the Emperor Michael in 1261. When admiral Vignoso arrived at the port of Chios with his ships, he found no resistance.

So, our traders settled in the island and founded a company known as Maona tο manage the resources of the island as equal shareholders. Each shareholder title could pass from one shareholder to another, not by blood, but by selling their company shares. We gave not regretted the decision. The island is famous for its scenery and good climate. Its chief export is mastic, a gum that exudes from the bark of a tree grown in the southern part of the island. And not to forget that Chios lies opposite of Phocaea, where our monopoly of alum is secured. Chios lies in half way between Constantinopolis and Alexandria. That is another reason why this island is important to us and we are envied by our competitors the Venetians for the possession of Chios.

Maona

Lanfranco Drizzacorne, Shareholder of Maona Nuova Chios, in the year of the Lord 1364

Chios is located on the road between Constantinopolis and Alexandria making the port of Chios the most convenient place to anchor the ships and provide for fresh supplies. With the island in our hands, we control the Aegean Sea and the commerce coming from the Black Sea. We founded the first company in Chios, the Maona, right away to exploit the mastic monopoly. As you know, the members of the company provided the funds for the naval campaign to Chios in 1346. But despite that the campaign was successful, our government in Genova could not pay the debt. So, the next year, in 1347 the government granted the Maona company the rights to exploit the resources of Chios and Phocaea for twenty years until the loan could be repaid. The government kept the sovereignty over the island, the judicial power and the right to buy back the shares of the creditors who funded the expedition. With a new treaty in 1362 the government in Genova accepted that our company has the right to rent Chios and Phocaea for twelve more years to 12 leaseholders with equal shares. We rebuilt the Castle of Chios and the port and from where we exported mastic to all over the world.

THE MONOPOLY

Merchant union

Ioannis, mastic farmer from Mesta, 1478

I am a mastic farmer. My father was one before me and before him his father and so on. We don’t know anything else. Before the Giustiniani masters came to our island, we lived in peace with each other and our former rulers the Zaccaria family, God bless their souls, did a lot for us. We possessed one third of the land we cultivated and our community decided the important issues. Nowadays, we are all subjected to the authority of the mighty Genoese traders. The Maona supervises the whole production and sets the quantity to be delivered to them.

We, the farmers, cultivate the mastic trees, but we see no good from it, because the monopoly belongs to the Maona, the merchant union of the Giustinianis. We are not allowed to use even a small branch from a mastic tree from the fields we cultivate, and if we did, they’d punish as common criminals. We are not even allowed to stay close to a mastic tree, if we did not engage to work with it. Nobody is allowed to sell mastic, or to hide it, or to keep it for personal use, even the smallest quantity. And if some mastic farmers do not reach a certain quantity in a season, then he is punished to pay the cost of the produce that is lacking in a double price.

Here in Mesta, we have the tallest tower of all 21 mastic villages, erected in the middle of the village. This is so, Maona says, because we are in a walking distance from the port, which attracts the pirates and they must protect us. We live in a little space, with narrow streets and little sun. I am happy to work on the field, despite the hard work and the fear that I might collect less mastic than the year before. I am happy because I can breathe fresh air, feel the sun, even if it burns me a lot, and see the horizon. There is nothing else I have seen in my life. I wished I could become a sailor and see the world. But we are not allowed to leave the fields. Because the foreign masters earn 30.000 golden coins a year from the trade of mastic.

RESIN TEARS

Secret Knowledge

Andrea Loredan, Mastic Supervisor in Olympoi In the year of the Lord 1460

To avoid any unnecessary riots, our company the Mahona has lifted some burdens from the farmers. So, to allow them to breathe a bit, and ensure the production, which is of course strictly controlled. Each village assumes responsibility for the cultivation of an assigned number of mastic trees, so they must produce a specific quantity of mastic each year. And in the case, they produce more, we buy the surplus, but if the produce is less, the growers have to pay the double price for the lacking quantity to compensate us and cover for our profit loss. The whole production process is supervised by our officials. We decide how many mastic trees will be cultivated, when and how the recollection of the mastic will take place. Only mastic growers and the supervisors are engaged in cultivation. We are selling the final product, but not the secrets of cultivation.

Forced Labour

Angelina, mastic cleaner in Olympoi

Ahh, gone are the glorious days, when we were masters of ourselves, protected by the Emperor in Constantinopolis. Gone are the days where we had anything to say. Still, we built a community here. We share everything, help and respect each other. And the land rewards the labour of the farmers, who act in the love of God. My father tells me that the foreign masters forced the people of six villages to leave their homes and put them to live and work in a new one, Olympoi, which they designed to their liking. This is the village I was born. The masters turned the bigger villages into fortifications. In the big village nearby lives the force of soldiers, to watch over the south part of their lands. They have towers and wards for the soldiers. But how good is this for me? Cultivating these trees, which are low in height it means that I spend your life bending and do not raise mey head to see the towers.

From autumn to spring

Anna, mastic cleaner in Olympoi

Our work begins before the tree cutting. We must clear the earth around the tree trunk, uproot the weeds, pick up all stones and the tiniest ones, in order for the tears not to mix with them while falling onto the cleaned ground. Then we must sift white earth on the cleaned ground around the tree trunk and stamp on it as long as it becomes smooth and steady. We call this a “table”. Thus, when the resin tears flowing out of the bark, fall into a clean “table” and do not glue with impure elements. The preparation of the “table” is very important for a clean produce, which can be then easily collected. After this step is completed, we must wait for 15 days that the tears solidify. It must be collected with the first light. First, we must collect the big pieces. Then the smaller ones, and lastly the smallest drops fallen on the table. And then collect all the drops that are still on the tree trunk and the branches. All the produce must be transferred to shady storage rooms before midday. Then we start to clean each mastic tear. We remove earth and leaves, then we wash it and dry it. With small knives we clean every tear as small as it might be and every grain. And because these pieces are very small our work starts in the autumn and ends in the spring.

WATCHTOWERS

A Smart Plan

Anselmo Giustiniani, Mahona shareholder In the year of the Lord 1478

My dear nephew I am writing this letter to you, before you depart from Genova and sail for Chios. There are some issues I would like you to familiarize with, before you arrive here. This island is a money-machine, be we need to be very prudent to maintain our wealth. We do not fear so much the local population, these are just humble farmers and the mariners among them do work for us. However, for our company to run smootly and stay profitable, we must ensure the control of the sea and free our transport from the Turks, the pirates and the Venetians.

Then we need to control the produce. Because, my dear nephew, without allocating our attention to both tasks, it is futile to even think start to commerce. Mastic as you know, is unique and brings us a profit of about 30.000 golden coins a year: the price is set by the rarity. And mastic is rare indeed as it grows only in the southern part of the island Chios, which we gained in 1346, God bless the admiral Vignoso, who occupied this island.

My boy, I need you to think about it: ownership means nothing, unless it is properly managed. Otherwise, please mark my words, unmanaged properties are only a cost and can drive any man to bankruptcy, which happened already to many light-hearted men in the past. Let me give you a good good example, what it means: four generation ago, the Doge di Genova Giovanni di Murta, despite being a banker by trade, did not manage to have the money to re-pay the cost of the expedition to Chios to the Genoese nobility, who lent him the sum. He ended up to turn the island of Chios and all its proceeds to the 12 lenders. And since then, it us, the guild and not the state who profits. But fate should be never taken for granted, for privileges may disappear if not sleeplessly guarded.

The Labyrinth

Ioannis, mastic grower from Kallimasia

When they set up, their company, Maona, to govern the island and exploit all of its proceeds, they counted and expropriated each mastic tree. Then a central plan was devised by them in Genoa to exploit our labor at the fullest and multiply their profits. While we lived in harmony with our neighbors in the land, they ordered us to move to new villages that look like fortresses, because as they say, it is their “duty” to protect us from piracy and other enemies that wish to get hold of the precious mastic.

They forcibly moved our villages away from the sea-side and covered them with walls, so that no one stays unnoticed, when one comes in and gets out and after dark no one gets in or gets out, as the gates close. Small paths run through the village, which they call “streets” but actually is a never-ending labyrinth. One central and four corner towers watch over our life every single minute.

The houses they have designed for us, looked like dungeons, even if some of us are accommodated in a two-storey building. The huge central tower is full of armed men, ready to apply “order”. The central tower is the tallest building in each mastic village with men armed to the teeth inside it, watching all over our life every minute. And do not even think to keep one drop of the precious mastic, let alone to smuggle it. Because, before you lose your life, you lose your ear and your nose and be branded on the forehead.

MASTERMIND

The Treasury

Leonardo di Cornasca, Mahona Shareholder, 1359

Tomorrow I will go to the port of Chios to personally supervise an important task. I have a contract to supply the Sultan of Egypt with the precious mastic. The merchandise must be packed in 3 coffers for the transport and it has to be authorized for export with the seal of our company, the Maona.

We possess the knowledge to select the best mastic trees and make new generations out of the best ones. And today we reap the benefits of the most fruitful trees. Our annual income from the mastic rises to 200.000 golden coins. We pay an annual tax to the Emperor in Constantinopolis 120.000 golden coins. And this, if you only think that the revenues of the King of France are only 840.000 golden coins and the revenues of the Emperor in Constantinopolis is one million golden coins.

The island of Chios is a blessing to us thanks to the mastic production, the citrus fruits and the wine, the leather goods and the silks and the wools we produce there thanks to the famous Chian sheep. We trade with all over the world, but our fame creates many suitors that wish to conquest Chios and exploit all the benefits.

Punishments

Georgios, mastic farmer in Pyrgi

If you think that it is easy to grow the mastic tree you are mistaken. These trees are low in height and this means we, the mastic farmers, spend our lives bending. I am a mastic grower and before me, my father and before him my grandfather, and before him, my great-grand father were mastic growers. We don’t know anything else, but cultivating the mastic tress and paying the taxes.

We cannot keep any mastic at all, not even for using it at home. It’s a luxury product destined for the King of France, the King of England and the Sultan of Egypt. It is not for the taste of a humble farmer. But because mastic is also a medicine, I keep in secrecy some drops that I have not delivered to the officials. Just for my children, if they fall ill. Nobody knows about it, not even my wife, as the punishment is horrible. A man can lose an ear for possessing mastic illegally and those who try to sell it can lose a nose and be hanged by the neck.

The Genoese Admiral

Michail Zyvos, Pyrgi 1491

In 1491 I arrived from a tiring journey to Chios. As soon as I have disembarked, I rode to Pyrgi, to visit my relatives, who are mastic farmers. In the central square I met my compatriots and there I heard of the news about a Genoese admiral who just came to our island looking for experienced mariners. I decided to return to the city and gather information.

At the port I heard some rumors that he is starting an adventure to sail to Indies following the west direction. I don’t know what to think about it. May be this “admiral” is an imposter. But then again, he may be right and by following a direction to the west we can find another road to the luxury items that Europe craves for.

For 40 years now, after to fall of Constantinopolis to the Turks, their sultans closed all roads to Europeans travelling to the east. So, we started looking for alternatives. I heard of new navigation tools like the compass, the quadrant, the astrolabe and celestial navigation. If this is true, I have not to lose and enroll myself to admiral Colombo’ s fleet.

THE ORANGE GROVE

The Invitation

Marie-Louis, Comte de Marcellus, Paris 1822

While residing in the island of Chios, I visited a wonderful residence located in a lowland area with oranges and lemon trees starting from the south of the city and extending from the sea to the foot of the mountain. This estate belongs to provost Rodokanakis, the wealthiest of the Chian trader and most generous of the founders of the Great School of Chios. He had invited me to go there to spend a few hours away from the harbor and the noise of the city of Chios. On my way to his mansion, I crossed large orchards with lemon and orange roads bordered by walls like in area outside of the city of Marseilles. Then, I met fields with carob and palm trees. I reached the villa without a driver after a two-hour hike. The façade is simple and a stone staircase has led me to the first floor where my hosts waited to greet me. They let me in a round room with a view decorated with many frescoes. The sea breeze, after first passing through the blooming orchards of oranges, brought freshness and fragrance to the house.

Silk Reflection

First, they made me sit on sofas lined with red and white fabric from the workshops of Proussa at the foot of Mount Olympus in Bithynia. The fabric created around me sweet and soft reflections because it was from silk. My gentle hosts have kept away the army of servants, with which the villas of the wealthy Greeks are filled and no one appeared during my entire visit. Instead, the spouse of Rodokanakis, Lady Tharsitsa, served herself the sweets of the spoon and the coffee. Ηer husband lying next to me on the sofas filled with his own hands a long pipe and lit it for me. Later on, Lady Tharsitsa let me in another room full of marvelous paintings of the Venetian style.

Room with a view

From there we climbed up at the rooftop, where a telescope was set. I turned it towards the shores of Asia Minor and could clearly see the port of Cesme, the ruins of Ephesus, the plains watered by Kastros river and the hills of Samos Island. After I filled my senses looking at the farthest places, I turned the telescope towards the villages of Chios, those that are built on the slopes of Mount Pelinneon, towards the greenest orchards, the pomegranates and vineyards, the whitest houses of the harbor, shining bright under the light of the sun, the many ships scattered in the bay, and I could not get enough from all those beauties.

My host showed me around his estate, without pride and display mood led me to his beautiful gardens. We took a long walk around cisterns filled with transparent water under the shades of the orange trees. Lady Tharsitsa picked up a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers of the garden and offered me as a souvenir for my visit to Kampos. When we returned home, we visited the ground floor, where is a library with 2.000 volumes. Here next to the greats Greek authors were placed the masterpieces of Italy and those of the era of king Louis XIV, the roi-soleil!

Heavenly Scents

When the time came to say good bye to my kind hosts, Lady Tharsitsa came to bring me giant oranges, which she has just collected herself in the orange grove a while ago. I had to taste them with her. She sprayed the oranges with liquor from mastic and gave to me quite a few to take with me. She has also given me lemons and bergamots, the last is a kind of orange with sour flesh, but a heavenly scent. Provost Rodokanakis had the kindness to escort me to the road that would lead me to the city of Chios. We arrived in Chios fully loaded with fruits, flowers to narrate a million experiences in the orange grove, which, alas, lasted only a few hours!

The Massacre of Chios

But the happy memories I have lived in Chios were not meant to stay as such in my mind. Just two years after my visit, the Sultan has ordered to raze the island to the ground. The reason is that Chios joined the Greek revolution that has shaken the Ottoman Empire. The news arrived in France that from the 117,000 Christian inhabitants of the island, 42,000 were slaughtered, 50,000 captured and 23,000 fled to the rebel regions of Greece or to Europe. The captives, mostly young boys, girls and women, were sold into slavery in Smyrna and Constantinopolis. Two years after the massacre in the Salon of Paris I saw the painting of maître Eugène Delacroix which depicted the horrible massacre.

Shocked by the brutality of the painting and unable to grasp the tragedy, I rushed home with my memories of Chios vivid in full contrast to what I have seen on the painting. I have remembered the time spent with Rodokanakis and all the Chians I met. Poor young girls… Where are your noisy laughter and your innocent joys now? The winds of the war have blown them away. Now I am the last witness of this happiness on this beautiful island, as all those coming after me, cannot witness but catastrophe and ruins. Oh, my young friends! What has happened to you? Are you among those who were slaughtered or among those who were sold slaves in Cairo and Smyrna?

FREEDOM

1789

Adamance Coray, Paris 1789

After I have completed my studies in medicine in Montpellier, I desired to explore Paris. I arrived there on the 24th of May 1788 carrying in my pocket three recommendation letters by my professors, Broussonet, Grimaud and Chaptal. However, I arrived in Paris in a time, where for the first time in history a transformation would take place, a transformation that would affect the whole world: the French Revolution in 1789.

It was the Revolution that made me realize that I can never cohabitate with tyrants again. I have come to realize that it was the spread of education among the French that nourished the love for freedom, thus I decided to dedicate myself to spread education among my enslaved compatriots under the Ottoman joke, hoping that they too will instill the love of freedom in their breasts. And which other medium can spread education better than books?

The Mission

So, I set as my mission to provide for books presenting the works of Homer, Aristotle, Thucydides, Plato and many others, not only for the students of the ancient language, but to make the content available for all enriched with comments and explanations in the common language. And this mission, I realized right from the start that it was impossible to be coupled with the profession of medicine and any other activity whatsoever and thus, I did not hesitate to give up medicine, despite my degree and my dissertation.

The library I founded in Chios is one of the largest libraries in Greece. It was established in 1792 and in the following years, it acquired 20,000 volumes. The Library had solid financial resources that enabled it to be housed in its own space in 1817 with a reading room and lending department.

Destruction

Adamance Coray, Paris 1789

After the Greek War of Independence was declared on the 25th of March 1821, the Greeks from the island of Samos had arrived on Chios and encouraged the Chians to join their revolt. However, the revolt was unprepared and Chians, who were merchants and not familiar with the use of weapons, were left alone at the mercy of the Sultan’s troops. On the 22nd of March 30.000 Ottoman troops landed on the island to execute the order of Sultan Mahmut and kill all males over 12 years, all females under 40 years, all males under 2 years and the rest to be sold in slavery. Vahit Pasha, the governor of Chios was very zealous to properly execute the Sultan’s order. The massacre lasted for 25 days and Vahit Pasha sent to the Sultan in Constantinopolis 5 loads of cut heads and 2 loads of cut ears kept in barrels with salt.

To revenge this brutality Konstantinos Kanaris succeeded to blow up the Sultan's flaship and the fleet lying outside of Chios We heard later that from the 2200 men on the board of the flagship only 200 saved their lives and that the Kapudan Pasha Kara Ali was interred in the Turkish cemetery of Chios. The burning ship caused considerable havoc as it was moving without steering among the ships of the fleet, and urged the enemy to sail way from the Aegean Sea and hide in the Dardanelles. Thus, they could not bring the supplies to Mahmut Dramali Pasha in the Peloponnese. The Revolution was saved and the spilled blood in Chios was not in vain.

However, 120.000 Chians were slaughtered by the Ottoman troops in Chios, others were sold in slavery and barely 2.000 managed to escape. Our library fell also victim to the Turks. But even if the Turks had not burnt it to ashes, there was nobody on Chios anymore to read books.

Resurrection

With continuous donations and purchases, the library has today more than 250,000 volumes. An invaluable treasure of the library is the donation of the Great Napoleon in honor of Adamantios Korais "Déscription de l'Egypte", consisting of 14 illustrated volumes (version 1809-1822).

Chios Cultural Narrative

by Dorothea Papathanasiou

Created by Aldo Di Russo

Art Director: Mauro Scaramella

Executive Producer: Artifactory

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisci elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur. Quis aute iure reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint obcaecat cupiditat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisci elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur. Quis aute iure reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint obcaecat cupiditat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

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