Kampos of Chios

The Kampos is a plain of deep red soil south of Chios Town where Genoese and later Greek merchant families created walled estates from the fourteenth century onward: high sandstone walls hide gardens of orange, lemon and mandarin trees, each with a mansion, an irrigation cistern, and a manganos, the wooden waterwheel once turned by a blindfolded animal to lift water into stone channels. Some estates are private, others open as guesthouses or museums, and the Citrus Museum at the Perleas estate explains the trade that once shipped Chian citrus across the Black Sea and Europe. Driving or cycling the lanes between the walls in March, when the blossom is out and the scent fills the whole plain, is the classic experience.

What to look for

• The walled estates - sandstone perimeter walls and hidden citrus gardens.
• The mansions - Genoese-influenced houses with arched loggias and courtyards.
• The waterwheels - manganos irrigation machinery in estate courtyards.
• The Citrus Museum - the history of the Chian citrus trade at Perleas.

When to go

March to May, when the orange blossom scents the whole district and the gardens are at their best. Autumn brings the fruit harvest. Summer is hot and the lanes offer little shade.

What to expect

Most estates are private and seen only as walls from the lane, so the experience is partly about atmosphere rather than access. Some mansions are derelict following earthquakes and neglect. The lanes are narrow and awkward to drive.

Nearby

Chios Town lies immediately north; the mastic villages of the south begin beyond the plain.