Genoese Takeover of Chios

In 1346, a Genoese fleet under the admiral Simone Vignoso seized the island of Chios in the eastern Aegean from the Byzantine Empire, which was then weakened by civil war. Genoa, Venice's great rival, had long wanted Chios because of its valuable trade and its famous product, mastic, an aromatic resin from trees grown only in the island's southern villages. Mastic was used in medicine, chewing gum and cosmetics and fetched high prices across the Mediterranean. The island was placed under the control of a company of Genoese investors known as the Maona of Chios. The leading families of this company later took the shared name Giustiniani. Genoese rule lasted for more than two centuries and brought great prosperity. The Genoese built fortified villages in the mastic-growing region, such as Mesta, Pyrgi and Olympi, designed to protect the villagers and the valuable crop from pirates. Many of these medieval villages still survive, with their narrow streets and defensive walls. Chios remained under Genoese control until the Ottomans took the island in 1566.