Chios in a painting of the 15th century
(Museo Navale, Genova Pegli).

Chios or Scio, as it was called in the Middle Ages, belonged to the Republic of Genoa, and was, in the Aegean Sea, one of the gates to the Orient. The young Columbus, who, as his contemporaries testify, had the gift of an exceptional sense of smell, was charmed by this island "of the thousand scents": sage, thyme, oregano, and above all mastic. The lovely perfume of Chios, still perceptible today, contributed to the young Genoese sailor's dream of reaching the Orient.