Original subtitles

(upbeat music)

- In the first series,

I began unravelling the story

of this spectacular and historic nation

by travelling from Athens around the Peloponnese

and up to the Ionian Islands.

It took in parts of the country

that lots of tourists know well,

but in amongst the popular places were hidden gems,

undiscovered by the holiday masses.

This series I'm back on board my beautiful boat, Mia Zoi,

and heading to a region of Greece

I haven't spent much time in.

The plan is to skip between the island,

taking in the sights of the Northern Aegean.

It'll be a journey of discovery

where I'll be digging deep into the fabric

that makes Greece so unique,

and immersing myself in a centuries old culture

unlike anywhere else on earth.

(placid music)

After spending several weeks cruising

through some of the most remote

and lesser known islands in Greece,

this episode sees me exploring Chios,

my final port of call for the first leg of the series.

I've enjoyed an incredible couple of months,

seeing amazing landmarks, and meeting wonderful people,

all the while learning about the story of Greece.

No two islands were the same

with sights, sounds, smells, and tastes

that set them all apart.

The Northern Aegean proved

to be a beautiful part of the country,

and while it might be the end of this part of the journey,

ahead lies the Cycladic islands.

(upbeat music)

Chios is a busy island with a healthy population.

No doubt, it suffered a little from the economic downturn

that has seen many of the small places in Greece

become decimated,

but thanks to strong tourism and long-standing industries,

it's still thriving.

It's an island that somehow manages

to fuse the old with the new.

While there's ancient ruins and buildings

that have stood for centuries,

in amongst these historic sites are modern-day structures,

creating a mixed and interesting street scape.

The main town and port are busy year round

with great shopping, loads of taverns,

cafes, delis, and places to stay,

but you don't have to travel far to escape the crowds

and find a quiet place to relax.

That said, if you wanna see all

that this island has to offer,

and like me, you're pressed for time,

then you won't be spending too much of it

sitting on a beach.

(upbeat music)

This looks like a pretty average scene on a Greek island.

There's a church over there,

and there's a church over there,

and a village all the way around it,

but something special happens here every year

that doesn't happen anywhere else in the world.

On Easter Saturday at midnight,

skyrockets are set up just down there and just down there

and the competition is to see

who can hit the other bell tower first.

It's pretty dangerous, and you wanna be up here.

I just don't know how many years this is gonna last, though.

(placid music)

Easter celebrations in Greece follow a fairly stick agenda,

but over the years,

different islands have added their own flavour

to spice up the festive atmosphere

of this most sacred of Christian orthodox events.

During the Easter period in Chios

the first thing you'll notice around town

is the scaffolding and wire mesh

wrapped around the buildings near the two main churches.

It's as though all the houses are under renovation

or part of a battle zone.

It just goes to show how hazardous a situation it is.

To be honest,

once you see the madness that happens after dark,

you'll be asking the same question as me.

How on earth do they get away with this?

Apart from the dangers to the people,

surely a house or two burns down on occasion.

(chattering) (rooster crowing)

(chattering) (church bells ringing)

(bells ringing) (singing)

While preparations are underway on the outside,

within the church walls,

things seem pretty much run of the mill

for this time of the year,

at least, the start of proceedings is.

However, that all comes to a noisy, chaotic halt

when the priest makes his entrance.

(singing)

(drums smashing) (chattering)

(drums smashing) (singing)

Father Christophoros bursts onto the scene,

throwing bay leaves into the crowd amidst cheering,

swinging chandeliers, and a cacophony of noise.

It's symbolises Christ's victory

and the miracle of resurrection.

(chattering)

From there, the two rival congregations

gather at the shoreline

before making their way to their respective churches

to finish preparations for the warfare

that occurs after dark.

At first glance, it looks like a protest march,

but it's quite the opposite.

They're coming together for a celebration,

albeit one that seems a little crazy.

(placid music) (chanting)

(placid music) (fire crackers fizzing)

As a bystander, looking at this signals danger and lunacy,

but once you realise they've been doing this for years

without a fatality,

you feel a tad more comfortable.

The organisers have taken several precautions

to keep the people and properties safe.

Apart from all the mesh screens and designated safety signs,

if anything does go wrong,

there's a number of firemen

and other emergency services on standby.

(placid music) (fire crackers fizzing)

This battle between neighbourhoods, although taken seriously,

is a festive celebration.

There's no malice in it,

just a night of madness steeped in tradition.

For the other 364 days of the year,

both of them just get on perfectly well,

I think.

(placid music) (fire crackers fizzing)

The night sky lights up

like New Year's celebrations in Sydney.

There might not be thunderous explosions of huge fireworks,

but that's made up for with the deafening fizzes

of thousands of rockets being fired at low level.

They bounce and ricochet off the walls of buildings,

sending sparks everywhere.

This is about as close as most people come

to being on a battlefield.

It's absolute madness, but a whole lot of fun,

and actually quite beautiful.

(placid music) (fire crackers fizzing)

(placid music)

(upbeat music)

I'm on my way to the Mayor's office.

He's actually an architect,

and he's gonna show me around the town.

(cicadas chirping)

But have a look at this.

All the pink and orange stone,

the soft stone that's native to Chios.

(cicadas chirping)

Pretty special, it's got it's own identity, this place.

Better keep moving, I don't wanna be late.

(cicadas chirping)

Only a few kilometres from Chios town

is the beautiful village of Kampos.

It's one of the prettiest areas of the island,

filled with mansions

built by the Genoese in the 14th century.

The distinctive high walls were there

not to protect those living inside,

but to keep safe the very product

that made these people so wealthy.

(cicadas chirping) (chicken clucking)

(car engine droning)

The most famous of these estates

is Antouaniko Mansion,

which in 2015 won the European Union prize

for cultural heritage.

Showing me around was the main architect

responsible for the restoration works, Manolis Vournous.

He's also the Mayor.

You won't find anyone with more knowledge and passion

about the architecture of Chios than this guy.

His depth of understanding was so thorough,

he could talk all day about the most intricate of details.

This sort of knowledge has to be appreciated.

It's put to wonderful use in the ongoing refurbishment

of other similar buildings around the island.

(cicadas chirping)

- This is the heart of any estate in Kampos.

That is the well, the water.

It is the reason for having

all of the agricultural civilization developed in Kampos.

You get the water very deep, so you have to raise it up,

and you raise it through those buckets

which are moved with the oxen or the mule

which is turning around the well.

(placid music)

- [Peter] In my line of work, I met a lot of architects.

They're a passionate bunch and their creative minds

can sometimes be a challenge to handle,

but that same mentality can also manifest itself

in a myriad of ways.

In Manolis's case, he's a details man.

He understands the intricate details

of every inch of this place,

from how the waterwheel operates to irrigate the property

to the different types of stone

used for the walls and paths.

- It is getting into this basin here

and this system here is filled with water

through which is watered all the garden.

(cicadas chirping) (placid music)

- I love this, even though it's several hundred years old,

Manolis is explaining to me that this trenching system

is permanent and several trenches is still being used today

to water the whole place.

It's unbelievable.

And you've got little dykes there, how does that work?

- Well, it's very simple.

You just remove it and you have the water,

it is going in that direction,

or if you want to direct it through this channel,

you just remove it, put it here.

- So, this is the main channel here,

and that's a temporary channel?

- Exactly, this is the permanent, this is the temporary,

and depending on where you want water,

you just change, very, very, very primitive as technology,

but it's so simple

and it's working for hundreds and hundreds of years,

and everybody can understand it.

- It's awesome, look at it go.

- You just water all these plantations, you can do it.

- Anyone can.

- Anyone can, well, you have to work hard to do it.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(cicadas chirping) (placid music)

It's a lot of work and expense

just for mandarins and oranges, at least, in today's world.

A few hundred years ago,

it was a vastly different case.

Back then, when they first discovered the medicinal value

of these common place fruits of today,

citrus was only grown in a limited number of places

that were close enough for the produce

to be shipped into Europe without spoiling.

In cold countries like Russia,

the price of an orange was huge.

They would wrap them individually in fine paper

or even gold leaf,

and only the wealthiest of people would indulge in them.

In today's market,

you could compare them to truffles or saffron.

(cicadas chirping) (placid music)

Growing citrus was therefore a lucrative trade,

which brought wealth to the island.

It manifests itself in the luxurious homes

you see around the place,

but with fortune came thieves.

So, to protect their groves from not only prevailing winds,

but also looters,

they built high walls around their properties.

You could say it was like money

was literally being grown on trees.

(cicadas chirping) (placid music)

- You have here this alley here

which is mostly defined by this channel.

It's as if you are in this garden of the oranges

of the Hercules story,

that he was in the garden of citrus.

- [Peter] Yes, yes.

(scooter engin droning) (placid music)

If you come to Chios, Kampos is well worth a visit,

however, there's a number of other towns here

that were also built on agricultural wealth,

but not due to citrus.

The fortress-like villages in the south

prospered thanks to what the island's most famous for,

the sap of the Mastiha tree.

I've read somewhere that the Genoese built these towns

with these towers and wall fortification

to protect the Mastiha.

- Well, it was not exactly for Mastiha only.

It was generally in order to organise the countryside,

coming through the Byzantine years

where there was a diminishing of the population

on the islands generally.

There was a phenomenon which was first seen in Italy

that was called incastellamento,

that is to organise the countryside

by creating administrational centres,

which were also centres for the gathering of the production,

of the agricultural production.

So, the Genoese is one of the first

to create on Chios towers,

around which the settlements,

there were settlers coming to stay there.

It was a kind of urbanisation, let's say,

because people started growing more and more

around those towers,

where the production was kept mostly

and very important for Mastiha.

- So, should we go and have a look?

- Yeah, yeah. - Let's go and have a look.

(upbeat music)

So, this was the outside of.

- Yeah, exactly, this is the line of the original wall.

It's still many, parts of it,

it is the original wall,

but lately in 19th Century, mostly,

they have opened, the houses have arrive to touch the walls

and then they have opened also,

and much later, they have opened the doors, and windows,

and things like that.

This originally used to be just a wall

with no openings at all.

This was the main gate.

This is the main gate,

and it's very interesting getting off from here,

and there is this network of streets around the houses.

The house, the one next to the other, adjacent,

and the one is leaning towards the other one.

That's why these are the showers.

(laughter)

(upbeat music)

- Walking along the old stone lanes,

you're taken back in time.

For me, it's a snapshot of how life once was.

That said, there are plenty of people living here today,

having converted the old buildings for modern applications.

(upbeat music)

Throughout the alleyways there are wonderful little shops

and taverns serving local food and other products

that are distinctly from Chios.

It's seen the menu ever establishment,

and more so, every passer by.

(speaking in foreign language)

We get stopped everywhere,

he's the Mayor, he knows everybody.

What do I do, you know?

We walked 300 metres and it takes 10 minutes.

(chattering in foreign language)

We got the Mayor and we've got the best singer.

The best actress, as well?

- No actress.

- Actress, is that right?

- Singer, singer, I'm a singer.

- She's a singer, the best singer in Chios.

Are we laughing or what?

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

(car motor droning)

The south of Chios is covered in Mastic plantations

More than likely, you've never heard of it.

The tree sap is a unique resin

that's cultivated for its many uses.

You'll find it in all sorts of things,

from chewing gum to pharmaceutical products.

In antiquity, its antibacterial,

antioxidant, and anti fungal properties

saw it used extensively

as a remedy for everything from colds to blood conditions.

It's said Hippocrates used Mastic

for the prevention of digestive problems,

and even as a breath freshener.

There's only one place in the world

where Mastiha is being harvested successfully

for thousands of years,

and that's right here in Chios.

(shovel scraping)

- Only the rocks?

You finish it off, mate, because I'm not an expert.

But what Nico's doing now

is just cleaning the rocks off the surface

so that he can then blow the surface of the small rocks

before he puts the calcium carbonate down.

The calcium carbonate is a food grade calcium carbonate

and it forms a platform for the Mastiha, the gum,

to come down.

So, Nico, when do we do this?

When do we clean this and put the calcium carbonate?

What month?

- [Nico] We start to clean the tree at June.

- [Peter] June, okay.

(shovel scraping)

- [Nico] And then, at July, we start to put the--

- Calcium carbonate, okay.

What's next?

(shovel scraping)

We're gonna blow it now.

(shovel scraping)

Can I try blowing?

(shovel scraping)

Nico, can I try blow...

(blower engin drones)

Needs an expert, right?

(blower engin drones)

You blow, you blow, you blow.

(blower engin drones)

There are 2,500,000 Mastiha trees in all of Chios,

and they only really work half those trees at any one time

to give the other ones a rest.

So, there's 1,200,000 odd tress

that are being worked every year.

They get from those trees only 160 tonnes of Mastiha,

that's the world wide production.

Now, what are you gonna do now, Nico?

- We start to--

- Score. - Score the tree.

- You score away, mate.

So, and what he's gonna do now is he's gonna score the tree

so there's openings for the gum to come out

over the next few months,

and it just trickles out

onto that food grade calcium carbonate.

It takes several months for the gum to trickle out

so that they can collect it some time in September.

(stones grinding)

- This is before today's.

- This is only two days?

- Two days.

- So, over a two or tree month period,

we get about 200 grammes out of every tree.

Can I touch?

Ah, (laughs) that's awesome.

Now, you don't leave it on your finger

because it sticks,

so you rub it with a bit of dirt to get rid of it.

The calcium carbonate to get rid of it.

And you can see where it's scored,

the gum, the Mastiha is coming.

Jeez, there's still a strong taste in my mouth.

It hasn't left.

What's amazing is that they've been doing it

for 7,000 years.

2,000 years ago, they were using it for cosmetics as well.

It's amazing stuff.

The resin dries in the sun,

forming brittle, translusive globules called tears.

Harvesting is done by hand.

It's a delicate, time consuming process.

(placid music)

- To the unknowing eye,

you could be forgiven for thinking

this was just another olive plantation,

but these trees are far more valuable,

and their upkeep much more labour intensive.

There's no where else in the Mediterranean

that produces enough Mastiha for food and pharmaceutical use

and it's an industry that's been going for over 2,000 years.

In that time,

little has changed in the farming process,

which is part of the reason why it's so expensive.

(placid music)

To learn more about this versatile wonderplant,

I visited the Mastic Museum.

The building it's housed in

is an architectural icon in it's own right,

and well worth a visit just

to appreciate its beautiful form.

What's inside tells a story of Mastic.

Illustrated through the history, cultivation processes,

and applications of this unique extract.

The display shows how Mastic shaped the landscape

and influenced the design of the villages of southern Chios,

from the homes that people lived in

to the layout of the settlements.

Everything revolved around it,

and most people played a role in its production.

(placid music)

So, this is the thick grain Mastic

that the growers give to the co-op,

and then it gets distributed and sent overseas.

(placid music)

Agh, it smells awesome.

(placid music)

When it comes to agriculture, in the majority of cases,

advances in technology have greatly increased the yield

of commercial crops,

or at least made things a little easier for the farmers.

That's not so much the case for Mastic growers.

While some parts of the process have been mechanised,

such as the end of the production line,

the vast majority of the labour is carried out by hand,

using the same techniques as centuries ago.

It's a physically demanding year-round job,

and with such small yields per tree,

it's probably not the most rewarding,

but despite the challenges the farmers face,

the industry has remained strong since antiquity.

(metal droning)

So, I've seen how it's picked, I see how they make it.

Now, I'm gonna taste it.

(upbeat music)

That's gorgeous.

You can't come to Chios without trying Mastiha, the liquor.

It's beautiful.

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

Travelling around Greece on your own boat

gives you absolute freedom.

We're constantly moving around,

basing ourselves in a port or marina for a few days

before finding a cove or a beautiful beach to drop anchor.

Also, having a wife that's a water baby means

that to stay in the good books,

I need to make sure she can have her daily swim.

Now, beaches are like, to me, food.

It's good to have something different every day,

and Chios has that.

They have sandy beaches, pebbly beaches,

and this beach, there's actually three of them,

Mavra Volia, which means black pebbles.

(pebbles grinding)

Check it out.

(pebbles grinding)

Not only that, the water's crystal clear and blue.

It's beautiful.

I should go for a swim, but I'm hungry.

(upbeat music) (pebbles grinding)

The black pebbles and cliff face

were in contrast with the blue sea and sky above.

It was like an oil painting

that you couldn't take your eyes off.

The clarity of the cool water was incredible,

and the fact so few people were here made it ever better.

To tell you the truth,

considering it's possibly the most famous

and pretty beach in Chios,

I was surprised it was so quiet.

(upbeat music)

Back aboard Mia Zoi,

preparation for tonight's desert were already underway.

Chef Kyriakos's mother comes from the island.

So, we have inside knowledge

about how to make a local sweet called Masourakia.

It's a very simple recipe using crushed almonds,

a couple of eggs beaten into a meringue,

some salt, phyllo pastry, lemon rind,

and our special ingredient.

Completing the dish is a rich syrup

made from 250 grammes of sugar, lemon juice,

and a glass of water.

So, we're making the syrup right now.

It's the first thing we're gonna do

'cause we've gotta let it cool down afterwards.

Just throws the sugar in now.

I think I see Helen in the background,

she's really upset about the sugar,

but it's brown sugar, so it's okay.

Vanilla is something you will not find everywhere.

You'll go to your local Greek and delicate testing

to find vanilla.

Look at it, look at this stuff.

Look at it, look at that.

It's basically vanilla extract, sugar, I've got no idea,

but this one's special

because it's got a bit of Mastiha in it,

which is local to the island.

That beautiful flavoured tree thing that they have here.

Anyway.

- From the tree, it's from the tree.

(placid music)

The vanilla is slowly melted

so that it mixes well with the other ingredients.

Adding in a tablespoon of water helps the process.

So, what we have here is almonds.

These are uncooked almonds, they taste great.

That are chopped up.

Just put them in a blender, prrrrr, and yeah,

they're done.

- A little bit of salt.

- And we grate the lemon,

and we get the rind of the lemon in there.

We've beaten two egg whites.

- Yeah, just lightens it up.

(placid music)

I've never seen this before.

I've never tasted this before.

- Sorry.

- Normally, I've tasted everything that Kyriakos's done

at least half a dozen times.

That's why I'm the size I am,

but this one, I'm virgin to this,

and I'm looking forward to trying it.

At this stage, it's not the best-looking emulation,

but I'm sure it'll get better and better

as we go.

- That's ready.

- Yes. - Wow.

- The stuff is ready.

- The stuffing is ready,

not stuff is ready.

- Yeah, that's okay.

- I love this.

He was a trained pastry chef, this man.

So, this is the real gee.

We've got the real man here, right?

We've got the gun, the Greek gun.

I reckon I've probably got the best chef in Greece.

(placid music)

You know that, don't you?

You know you're the best chef in Greece?

- No, no, no, he never, he's such.

We started the syrup early

because we want it to cool down,

and as you can see, come to the boil,

lemon's gone right through,

and it's starting to cool down,

ready for us to use later, let's go,

what are we doing now?

- We cut it in four, we cut the phyllo pastry in four.

(placid music)

This seems like a fairly simple recipe,

like everything you do, Kyriakos,

okay.

- The easiest is the best.

My turn.

- My turn, okay.

Okay, let me. (speaks in foreign language)

- I screwed that up.

I've gotta use two.

Sorry, Kyriakos.

- No, it doesn't matter.

- Sorry, Kyriakos.

I've gotta take, I'm gonna be doing, come on,

you can't do everything there.

And we'll just put the butter on,

then we get the gear, let me do the gear.

(placid music)

Is that enough?

- [Peter] Thank you, Kyriakos.

We do this, then we do this.

(placid music)

(laughter)

- Kyriakos's say that the way we're going,

there's a good chance I may not need him in future.

Mate, no chance, no chance.

Now, let's make you look good,

'cause you've gotta look good enough right now, okay?

You handsome man, you.

(placid music)

I will never let Kyriakos leave me.

(placid music)

There's this fatal attraction.

(placid music)

Watching Kyriakos delicate hands at work

was quite therapeutic.

You can tell he's done it countless times before.

I reckon you can do the whole row.

(placid music)

Once the tray is full with a single layer of roles,

we then brush the top of them

with a healthy amount of the melted butter.

(placid music)

So, they get a bit of a colour

before we put them in the oven,

and we're gonna put them in the oven for.

- We're gonna put them in the oven for 30 minutes.

- At about 160 degrees.

(laughter)

(screaming)

- With 30 minutes to kill,

we had just enough time to baptise the new crew.

There's a tradition in Greece.

They just throw their girls into the water.

All this Sheilas is going down to the water.

Look at this, it happening here, right now.

(placid music)

One, two, three.

(water splashing)

This is a baptism.

They're very religious people here.

(placid music)

But where's the priest?

(placid music)

Where's the priest, you're baptising her,

where's the priest?

(laughter)

You do it everyday?

Fantastic.

(placid music)

What a life.

(placid music) (pastry cracking)

Ah, listen to the sound.

(placid music) (pastry cracking)

Wow, that sound, tshhhhhh.

(placid music)

It was only fitting

that we celebrate the newly baptised crew members

by indulging in some local sweets.

(placid music)

I'm not gonna grab the knife, nah.

I'm gonna do it by hand, hey, that's the best way.

(placid music) (pastry cracking)

Mmm.

Now, a lot of these Greek sweets look similar,

but you can definitely taste the Mastiha and the almond.

Kyriakos, it's beautiful.

- And he's saying that the aroma comes out more

in the Mastiha when it cooks.

I must say, it's very nice.

The good thing about this is Kyriakos said to me

that it keeps for two or three days, just out,

don't refrigerator it,

and if you're not big on sugar in the syrup,

you can put honey on it.

Awesome.

(laughter)

- Crew's already taken half of it.

(placid music)

(upbeat music)

Behind me, Lesvos, third largest island in Greece.

Next to me, separated by a 400 metre straight, is Chios,

fifth largest island in Greece.

In front of me, is Turkey.

We are on Inousses.

Now, I thought Psara was small at 44 square kilometres,

but this place is only 17 square kilometres.

So, you wouldn't think it'd have much,

but it's famous for it's seamen and shipping families.

There are more shipping families per square kilometre here

than anywhere else, probably in the world,

but definitely in Greece.

30 shipping families.

Why?

Well, I'm gonna find out.

(placid music)

From the southern end of Chios we cruise north,

skirting past Turkey before arriving in Oinousses .

I'd originally planned to spend

just 24 hours checking the place out.

After all, it's only a tiny island.

In then end, I stayed here for three days.

In fact, I loved Oinousses so much,

that I started look at possibly settling here one day,

but I'll have to run that by Helen first.

(placid music)

So, you were a captain, your father was a captain,

your grandfather was a captain.

- [George] My father-in-law.

- [Peter] Your father in law was a captain.

- So, and also, all my friends here,

also they have the same story.

They go back, if you look inside the family trees,

it's all seamanship.

When the first settlers came from Chios,

mostly they had cattles and agriculture,

and they start living here,

but of course,

this island cannot feed them all in this kind of job.

So, they turned to sea, they trained for fishing.

They built and they bought small sailing boats,

and they start operating the boats themselves.

As a seaman and as merchants between the islands,

they start carrying cargoes from one place to the other

from Minor Asia to the Greek islands, even to the Black Sea,

and they were successful.

(placid music)

- [Peter] Oinousses has been called

the cradle of the Greek shipping fortunes.

Numerous wealthy merchant families have their origins here,

and with such a long maritime history,

the identity of the island is intrinsically tied to it.

However, in antiquity, it was famed for its wine.

Maybe it was shipping wine around the Mediterranean

that started their seafaring ways.

(placid music)

You may have been to Beverley Hills

to see the houses of the rich and famous, come here.

There has never been such a concentration

of wealthy families in one little district.

Here, in this region here, is the Limos family.

Daughter, daughter, son, son,

further down is the Hadjipateras, it goes on and on.

(placid music)

One thing you'll notice when you come to Oinousses ,

and you'll see it straight away,

is the heavy investment in infrastructure

and the cleanliness of the place,

and that's because of some of these wealthy families

investing back in their island.

Have a loot,

they've even got their own football stadium,

and there's a theatre right behind it.

It's really impressive.

They've also invested heavily in the development

of the waterfront marina,

but perhaps their greatest legacy

is the creation of the Merchant Marina Academy.

It has 200 cadets at any one time,

and it's considered one of Greece's leading institutions.

Pantelis Vatousis is the commander of the Academy.

His personal experience

and passion for the maritime way of life

makes him a perfect person

to lead future generations of seafarers.

Commander, there's a big tradition here in Oinousses .

How do you feel about that tradition

and your responsibility here?

- Basically, I mean to farther the philosophy,

is to connect the past with the future.

Oinousses have a long nautical history.

Many Oinoussians started from seamen and become ship owners.

The name of Oinousses surpassed the county's borders,

and reached in the edge of the world.

If you walk in the coastal road,

there is a monument

of Plataea of (speaks in foreign language).

There are many Oinoussians who lost their lives

in both peace and wartime.

After that, in the port,

there is a statue of Oinoussian mother

who is shaking her scarf, saying goodbye to the children

who left Oinousses for the ships.

This is our tradition.

This is the heritage we want to instil to the students.

That's our goal and I'm proud to be involved

in this procedure.

- Commander, that's awesome, you should be proud.

It's a great tradition,

and I can see that you're continuing on.

- Thank you.

- [Peter] Container ships, tankers, and bulk carriers

are necessary for world trade,

and this island has turned out many of the young men

that captain these important vessels.

These a number of mega fleets

held by the 30 odd shipping families

originating from this island.

In fact, the largest merchant navy in the world

is in the hands of Greeks,

and a quarter of the owners come from here.

It's hard to fathom the impact this tiny island

with a population of under 900 people has had on the world,

but Oinousses has more to offer

than just its maritime legacy.

No one knows anything about this island,

so the beaches are devoid of tourists,

and if you visit one of the two taverns on the island,

all you'll find are retired captains in their 80s.

In 15 minutes, I've driven around the island.

I've noticed half a dozen beautiful beaches.

It's not known for beaches,

but they look awesome.

There's even a cafeteria down there.

Nobody there.

Maybe 'cause it's early.

(placid music)

Stunning scenery, empty beaches, and great food and wine,

Oinousses really does have it all.

Surely now you can understand

why I was thinking I could retire here.

(placid music)

(upbeat music)

- [Dimitris] In the Byzantine period.

- [Peter] The narrow channel between Chios and Oinousses

is and always has been a major shipping route.

Consequently, throughout history,

there have been a number of ships wrecked

in these tight waters,

and only recently,

one such wreck has been discovered on the sea bed.

- We have quite a lot of wrecks.

- [Peter] So, what period are we talking about, this wreck?

- This wreck is of the sixth, fifth, sixth century A.D.

That means that we are really in the late antiquities,

the beginning of the Byzantine period.

It is a very interesting period, in fact,

because everything was change in the east Mediterranean

in that period.

The Roman Empire starts slowly, slowly to go down,

they have separated

between Byzantium Constantinople and Rome,

and so, everything was changing.

We have a real political change in that period,

but as usual, the trade is always continued.

Even then, even when we have wars,

even when we have conflicts,

we have always the trade that goes on,

and exactly, these shipwrecks prove that.

Of course it's not so nice to dive in a shipwreck

because it in fact is an accident.

It's something that mustn't happen,

but it's only what we have as indication of this trade,

that it was so, so important for the east Mediterranean,

for all the period of the eastern Mediterranean.

We located it 10 years ago.

So, I think it's, also for us,

it's very interesting to go back there to the shipwreck

and see the condition of the shipwreck,

to see how it's going on.

How all this pile of amphoras

they are still remaining to the ship.

I hope that we are going to find it. (laughs)

- Look after me down there, okay?

- Don't worry.

- Let's go, let's go, mate, let's go.

(placid music)

- We were extremely lucky

to be diving on a calm day.

These waters have strong currents

and are generally quite rough,

meaning visibility can be poor.

The wreck has been dived on only a handful of times.

So, my expectations were high, and I wasn't let down.

There were hundreds of amphora, many unbroken,

and looking exactly as they did 1,500 years ago.

Once filled with wine and olive oil on route to Asia Minor,

these guys never got to their destination.

Instead, they're buried here, 30 metres below sea level,

centuries later revealing their secrets

to archaeologists and historians.

(placid music)

Discoveries like these help us better understand

the world that once was.

The incredible thing is throughout the Mediterranean

there are hundreds if not thousands of wrecks

lying undiscovered on the seafloor.

Who knows what treasures and stories they hold.

Some day, divers may find relics on these wrecks

that will almost certainly rewrite history.

I was ectatic just looking and dreaming

of what may have happened here over a 1,000 years ago.

(placid music)

From an ancient shipwreck that's only now being researched

to a centuries old hilltop town with a well-known story,

we made our way back to Chios to refuel

and take on provisions.

Ahead was a long journey south to the Cycladic Islands,

but before going there,

I had one final place I wanted to visit.

It's a location that's ruggedly beautiful,

but with a sombre tale.

(cicadas chirping)

Amongst the beautiful villages

with their pink and orange stone,

there's also some tragic stories,

reminiscent of many villages

throughout Greece and the Mediterranean.

Anavatos, meaning inaccessible,

and as you can see, it looks pretty inaccessible,

but during the War of Independence, the Ottomans attacked.

What happened next

lives in the memory of all of the islanders here.

It's unforgettable.

(cicadas chirping)

Once a densely populated 11th Century town,

Anavatos today has a population of one,

just a single octogenarian lives here on her own.

Smaragda is actually 83 years old,

and somehow manages to play backgammon on her own.

She's a very energetic lady,

which I'm sure you'd have to be

to live here in such isolation.

The hike up to the fortress town is well worth the effort.

You're rewarded with fantastic views,

but best of all,

you get the chance to walk through the ruins.

The problem with this place

is not the steep walk or the hot day,

it's my producer.

He wants to shoot every single angle

because there's so much picturesque stuff around here.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

Have a look at it.

Wow. (breathing heavily)

(sand grinding)

This tiny building is actually the biggest building here.

It's three floors.

On the ground floor, you have the olive press,

on the second floor, you have the school,

and this last floor is the church.

Although in ruin,

the fortress still has a powerful presence.

The stone walls are ominous yet striking.

The chirping cicadas

have replaced the noise of the human inhabitants

that once lived here.

There's an artistic beauty to the place,

yet behind it, is a tragic story.

Archaeologists have found remnants from 800 A.D.,

and for 1,000 years,

the people here protected themselves from the pirates.

1822, the Turks laid siege.

They overwhelmed the whole village.

It was Lent, and there were people in the church in liturgy.

The Turks burnt the church down, burnt these people alive.

The men were all killed.

Some of the women and children that were left

didn't wanna be enslaved or raped,

joined hands, and jumped of the cliff.

(placid music)

It's a harrowing tale told in the most dramatic of settings.

These ruins now act as a reminder of a dark past

which will hopefully never be repeated.

(placid music)

So, we finished our first leg in the Northern Aegean,

but now we head to Syros

for our second leg of this wonderful journey.

Our girl, Mia Zoi, two 2,800 horsepower,

V-16 MTU motors that guzzle a lot of diesel.

At 28 knots, we do about 1,000 litres an hour,

and we're filling up right now

with about 15,000 litres of fuel.

It's a lot of fuel.

Anyway, I think I might go

and give the captain a bit of a hand.

(placid music)

With the first part of the series coming to an end,

it's time to start work on the next leg of the journey.

My Greek Odyssey has so far taken in

the Argolic and Saronic gulfs,

we've travelled through the Ionian Islands,

and across the Northern Aegean.

Next episode, we're headed south to the Cyclades.

It's a region best known for Santorini and Mykonos,

but my exploration will show you

there's a lot more to see and do

in this spectacular and historic part of Greece.

(placid music)