Chios is the fifth largest Greek island, located in the eastern Aegean Sea, approximately eight kilometres (five miles) off the coast of present-day Turkey. Known in Turkish as Sakız Adası because of its production of gum mastic, or sakız , it is separated from the Anatolian mainland by the strait of Chios (Sakız Boğazı). In the Middle Ages, the island was a haven for the ships of merchants and pilgrims. From 482/1089 to 485/1092, during the first period of Turkish expansion in the region, it was briefly occupied