The Chios Mastic Museum

The Chios Mastic Museum is located in the Mastichochoria (literally: mastic villages), a group of medieval villages in Southern Chios, the only site in the Mediterranean where the mastic tree, or Pistacia lentiscus var. Chia, is cultivated; called by its generic name of skínos in Greek, this is an endemic variety of pistacia plant from which mastíha (gum mastic) is produced.
The Chios Mastic Museum aims to showcase the production history of the mastic tree’s cultivation and the processing of its resin, which it integrates into the cultural landscape of Chios. Through the prism of UNESCO’s inclusion of traditional mastic cultivation on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2014, emphasis is given to the diachronicity and sustainability of this product of Chios.

What is on display:
The permanent exhibition centres on Chios mastíha as a unique natural product. The introductory module provides information on the mastic tree and mastíha, its resin, which in 2015 was recognised as a natural medicine. The first module presents the traditional know-how of mastic cultivation. The second module focuses on how managing the cultivation and its produce shaped the agricultural landscape and the settlements of southern Chios and the Mastichochoria historically. The third module is dedicated to mastíha resin’s cooperative exploitation and processing in modern times, which marks an important chapter in the productive history of Chios. Particular mention is made to the uses underpinning why mastíha has a worldwide presence today. The museum experience is completed in the outdoor exhibition, where the public comes into contact with the plant itself and the natural habitat it prospers in.

Tools enabling a better comprehension of the permanent exhibition:

• Multimedia applications
• Documentaries
• Models
• Original machinery in functioning order

The «Skínos» hall (multipurpose hall) serves to host temporary exhibitions, organise events and hold cultural activities, while educational programmes are held in the smaller «Kentitíri» hall.

Identity of act
Phase I
NSRF 2007 – 2013
Operational Programme “Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship” (OPCE)
Act: Chios Mastic Museum
Code of MIS Act (OCS Ergorama): 346862
Anticipated Public Expenditure: € 6,700,000.00
Collective Decision Code: E0118
Collective Decision Body: 1012700 Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Code of Collective Decision Act: 2011SE0118015
Beneficiary: Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation
Beneficiary's Code: 1050601
Decision of Incorporation: Protocol Registry Number of the OPCE Managing Authority 3063/572/A2/08.06.11

Phase II
Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship & Innovation 2014-2020” (EPAnEK)
Act: Chios Mastic Museum
Code of MIS Act (OCS Ergorama): 5001962
Anticipated Public Expenditure: € 724,323.29
Collective Decision Act: E1111
Collective Decision Body: 1512100 Hellenic Ministry of the Economy, Development and Tourism
Code of Collective Decision Act: 2016SE11110003
Beneficiary: Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation
Beneficiary's Code: 1050601
Decision of Incorporation: Protocol Registry Number of the EPAnEK Managing Authority 7115/2314/A2/21.11.2016

Co-financed by the European Union
European Regional Development Fund