The Ottoman bath
A domed building of the Ottoman period inside the walls.
**Because Chios stayed Ottoman until 1912 โ and had a resident Muslim population, not just a garrison.** โ **Timing**: most Aegean islands joined Greece **in the 19th century** or passed to other rule; **Chios remained Ottoman until the Balkan Wars of 1912** โ far longer. โ **Settlement, not occupation**: after the Ottoman conquest of **1566**, **the castle became an inhabited Muslim quarter** โ families, baths, mosques, cemeteries and schools, not a barracks. **And that leaves civilian remains** that endure. โ **The economy**: Chios was **the sole source of mastic**, a commodity monopolised by the court โ **so the island had a special status** and a direct line to the capital, and money was spent on it. โ **What happened after 1912โ1923**: the **population exchange** between Greece and Turkey moved the remaining Muslims out, **leaving the buildings without their community**. โ **What you see today**: **a bath, a mosque and a cemetery** inside the castle, and few parallels in the Greek islands โ **Rhodes is the closest comparison**, and larger and richer in this respect.
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**A Byzantine-Genoese-Ottoman castle that people still live inside** โ right on the edge of Chios town's harbour. It is not an archaeological site but **a complete neighbourhood**: you go through the gate to find **streets, inhabited houses, shops and children** within medieval walls. Its core is **Byzantine**, the **Genoese** extended it in the 14th century, **and the Ottomans then settled it** after 1566, making it their quarter. โ So inside, the **layers sit side by side**: an **Ottoman bath**, a **mosque** and a cemetery with Arabic-script headstones, **Genoese houses** with carved coats of arms, and the **Giustiniani museum** with Byzantine wall paintings. โ And the **dark prison** (Kroustallou), where the island's notables were held before their execution in 1822. โ The castle is **dilapidated in parts** and neglected.
A domed building of the Ottoman period inside the walls.
Byzantine wall paintings in a Genoese building by the gate.
Arabic-script headstones among the inhabited houses.
Chios Town, 82100 Chios, Greece