Greece
Mastichochoria
Fortress villages guard the only mastic trees on Earth — resin still harvested by hand.
The resin tears on the tree bark are called dakrya — tears — and they crystallise only here, on Pistacia lentiscus trees growing in a microclimate that has never been replicated anywhere else on Earth. The 24 medieval villages that harvest it were built as fortresses: the outer walls of houses form the defensive perimeter, and the settlement IS the castle.
Mastic — a translucent, aromatic tree resin — crystallises only on trees growing in the southern Chios microclimate, a phenomenon that has resisted every attempt at replication. The 24 Mastichochoria villages were built with defensive architecture unique in the Aegean: houses form the outer walls, creating settlements that double as fortresses. The village of Pyrgi is covered in geometric xysta patterns — made by scratching through dark plaster to reveal white underneath — covering every external wall. The Ottoman sultan controlled mastic production as a personal monopoly for centuries, using it as chewing gum, medicine, cosmetics, and incense.
Solo
Photographing the xysta walls of Pyrgi, a mastic-harvesting demonstration, and the satisfaction of understanding a crop that exists nowhere else.
Couple
Mastic-flavoured ice cream and liqueur in the medieval villages, the geometric facades of Pyrgi at golden hour, and the sensory strangeness of chewing a resin that tastes like nothing else.
- Mastic only crystallises on Pistacia lentiscus trees growing in the southern Chios microclimate — the phenomenon has never been successfully replicated anywhere else on Earth.
- The 24 medieval Mastichochoria villages were built with the outer walls of houses forming the defensive perimeter — the settlement IS the fortress.
- The village of Pyrgi is covered in geometric xysta patterns — made by scratching through dark plaster to reveal white underneath — covering every external wall.
- Mastic has been traded since antiquity as chewing gum, liqueur, cosmetics, and medicine — the Ottoman sultan controlled it as a personal monopoly for centuries.
Mastic-flavoured sweets, ice cream, and liqueur — the tree resin tastes like nothing else on the planet.
Sxysta geometric sgraffito facades decorate the houses — but inside, grandmothers cook tomato fritters in olive oil.
Silverton
Australia
A ghost town where Mad Max was filmed — the Mundi Mundi lookout shows Earth's curvature.
Queenstown
Australia
A century of smelting stripped every tree, leaving a moonscape of orange and grey lunar terrain.
Niagara Falls
Canada
A city built on catastrophe — 168,000 cubic metres per minute plunging off a cliff.
Rye
England
Cobblestoned lanes so steep and crooked even the houses lean in to listen.
Santorini
Greece
White villages balanced on a caldera rim where the sea has flooded a volcano's shattered heart.
Mykonos
Greece
Windmills turning above a labyrinth of whitewashed lanes where the Aegean nightlife never stops.
Meteora
Greece
Monasteries balanced on sandstone pillars 300 metres above the plain, reached by rope and faith.
Delphi
Greece
Stone terraces climb a sacred mountainside where the ancient world came to hear the oracle speak.