colony · Greece and the Aegean

Maona of Chios

1346 CE – 1566 CE · capital Chios

Genoese chartered company that ruled Chios for over two centuries and grew rich on the island's unique mastic monopoly.

Origins

In 1346 a Genoese fleet under Simone Vignoso, financed by private shareholders, seized Chios from the Byzantines and also Old and New Phocaea on the Anatolian coast. Genoa, unable to repay the investors, let them govern and exploit the island through a company, the maona, whose members took the shared surname Giustiniani.

Rule and society

The maona appointed a podesta and council, collected taxes and controlled the export of mastic, a resin produced only in southern Chios and prized as a chewing gum and medicine, as well as alum and silk. The Greek Orthodox population kept its church and grew prosperous through trade. From the early 15th century the maona paid tribute to the Ottomans.

Decline and legacy

In 1566 the Ottoman admiral Piyale Pasha occupied Chios without a fight, ending Genoese rule. Many Giustiniani were deported, while the mastic villages kept special privileges under the Ottomans.

Connections (4)

More states of Greece and the Aegean →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Maona of Chios. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/maona-of-chios
MLA
“Maona of Chios.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/maona-of-chios. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Maona of Chios.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/maona-of-chios.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Maona of Chios’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/maona-of-chios (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻