Euboea NE
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest point). In general outline it is a long and narrow island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to . Its geographic orientation is from northwest to southeast, and it is traversed throughout its length by a mountain range, which forms part of the chain that bounds Thessaly on the east, and is continued south of Euboia in the lofty islands of Andros, Tinos and Mykonos. It forms most of the regional unit of Euboea, which also includes Skyros and a small area of the Greek mainland.


Name

Like most of the Greek islands, Euboea was known by other names in
antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
, such as ''Macris'' (Μάκρις) and ''Doliche'' (Δολίχη) from its elongated shape, or ''Ellopia'', ''Aonia'' and ''Abantis'' from the tribes inhabiting it. Its ancient and current name, Εὔβοια, derives from the words εὖ "good", and βοῦς "ox", meaning "(the land of) the well(-fed) oxen". In the Middle Ages, the island was often referred to by Byzantine authors by the name of its capital, ''
Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
'' (Χαλκίς) or ''Euripos'' (Εὔριπος,) the name of the strait that separates the island from the Greek mainland. Although the ancient name Euboea remained in use by classicizing authors until the 16th century. The phrase στὸν Εὔριπον 'to Evripos', rebracketed as στὸ Νεὔριπον 'to Nevripos', became ''Negroponte'' ("Black Bridge") in Italian by
folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...
, the ''ponte'' 'bridge' being interpreted as the bridge of Chalcis. This name was most relevant when the island was under Venetian rule.Edward Gibbon, '' The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', J.B. Bury, ed., Methuen, 189
p. 6:390
footnote 69
That name entered common use in the West in the 13th century, with other variants being Egripons, Negripo, and Negropont. Under Ottoman rule, the island and its capital were known as ''Eğriboz'' or ''Ağriboz'', again after the Euripos strait.


Geography

Euboea was believed to have originally formed part of the mainland, and to have been separated from it by an earthquake. This is fairly probable, because it lies in the neighbourhood of a fault line, and both Thucydides and
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
write that the northern part of the island had been shaken at different periods. In the neighbourhood of
Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
, both to the north and the south, the bays are so confined as to make plausible the story of Agamemnon's fleet having been detained there by contrary winds. At Chalcis itself, where the strait is narrowest at only 40 m, it is called the Euripus Strait. The extraordinary changes of tide that take place in this passage have been a subject of note since classical times, and it was so feared by sailors that the principal line of traffic from the north of the Aegean to Athens used to bypass Chalcis and the Euboic Sea. At one moment the current runs like a river in one direction, and shortly afterwards with equal velocity in the other. A bridge was first constructed here in the twenty-first year of the
Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
(410 BC). Geography and nature divide the island itself into three distinct parts: the fertile and forested north (which suffered major damage in the August 2021 forest fires); the forested mountainous centre, with agriculture limited to the coastal valleys; and the barren south. The main mountains include Dirfi (), Pyxaria () in the northeast and
Ochi is a form of ''yose'', which is itself a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone sits on a raised platform, a . Using only a and a as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long ...
(). The neighboring gulfs are the Pagasetic Gulf in the north, Malian Gulf, North Euboean Gulf in the west, the
Euboic Sea The Gulf of Euboea, Euboean Gulf, Euboic Sea or Euboic Gulf ( el, Ευβοϊκός Κόλπος, Evvoïkós Kólpos) is an arm of the Aegean Sea between the island of Euboea (northeast coastline) and the Greek mainland (southwest coastline). Trendi ...
and the
Petalion Gulf The Petalioi Gulf ( el, Κόλπος Πεταλιών - ''Kolpos Petalion'') is a gulf of the Aegean Sea, Greece. It stretches between the east coast of Attica and the south tip of the island Euboea. It takes its name from the Petalioi islands, th ...
. At the 2001 census the island had a population of 198,130 and a total land area of .


History


Antiquity

The history of the island of Euboea is largely that of its two principal cities,
Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
and Eretria, both mentioned in the
Catalogue of Ships The Catalogue of Ships ( grc, νεῶν κατάλογος, ''neōn katálogos'') is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's ''Iliad'' (2.494–759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. The catalogue gives the na ...
. Both cities were settled by
Ionian Ionic or Ionian may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ionic meter, a poetic metre in ancient Greek and Latin poetry * Ionian mode, a musical mode or a diatonic scale Places and peoples * Ionian, of or from Ionia, an ancient region in western ...
Greeks from Attica, and would eventually settle numerous colonies in
Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
and Sicily, such as Cumae and Rhegium, and on the coast of
Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
. This opened new trade routes to the Greeks, and extended the reach of Western Civilization. The commercial influence of these city-states is evident in the fact that the Euboic scale of weights and measures was used among the Ionic cities generally, and in Athens until the end of the 7th century BC, during the time of Solon. The classicist Barry B. Powell has proposed that Euboea may have been where the Greek alphabet was first employed, c. 775–750 BC, and that Homer may have spent part of his life on the island. Chalcis and Eretria were rival cities, and appear to have been equally powerful for a while. One of the earliest major military conflicts in Greek history took place between them, known as the Lelantine War, in which many other Greek city-states also took part. In 490 BC, Eretria was utterly ruined by the Persian armies. Eretria, Athens, and other Ionian Greek states had previously burned the Persian city of Sardis and participated in the Ionian revolution. After Eretria was destroyed, its inhabitants were transported as captives to Persia. Though it was restored nearby its original site after the Battle of Marathon, the city never regained its former eminence. Following the infamous battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium, Persian forces captured and sacked Athens, and also took Euboea, Boeotia, and Attica, allowing them to overrun almost all of Greece. Both cities gradually lost influence to Athens, which saw Euboea as a strategic territory. Euboea was an important source of
grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
and cattle, and controlling the island meant Athens could prevent invasion and better protect its trade routes from piracy. Athens invaded Chalcis in 506 BC and settled 4,000 Attic Greeks on their lands. After this conflict, the whole of the island was gradually reduced to an Athenian dependency. Another struggle between Euboea and Athens broke out in 446. Led by Pericles, the Athenians subdued the revolt, and captured Histiaea in the north of the island for their own settlement. By 410 BC, during the
Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
, the island succeeded in regaining its independence. Euboea participated in Greek affairs until it fell under the control of Philip II of Macedon after the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. It was incorporated into the Roman Republic in the second century BC. Aristotle died on the island in 322 BC soon after fleeing Athens for his mother's family estate in Chalcis. From the early Hellenistic period to well into the Roman Imperial period, the island was organized into the Euboean League.


Middle Ages

Unlike much of Byzantine Greece, Euboea was spared the bulk of the barbarian raids during late antiquity and the early medieval period, due to its relatively isolated location. The Vandals raided its shores in 466 and in 475, but the island seems to have been left alone by the Avars and
Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
, and it was not until a failed Arab attack on Chalcis in the 870s that the island again came under threat. As a result, the island preserved a relative prosperity throughout the early medieval period, as attested by finds of mosaics, churches and sculpture throughout the 7th century, "even from remote areas of the island". In the 6th century, the ''
Synecdemus The ''Synecdemus'' or ''Synekdemos'' ( el, Συνέκδημος) is a geographic text, attributed to Hierocles, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of their cities. The work is dated to the reign o ...
'' listed four cities on the island, Aidipsos, Chalcis, Porthmos (modern Aliveri) and Karystos, and a number of other sites are known as bishoprics in the subsequent centuries ( Oreoi and Avlon), although their urban character is unclear. In the 8th century, Euboea formed a distinct fiscal district (''dioikesis''), and then formed part of the theme of
Hellas Hellas may refer to: Places in Greece *Ἑλλάς (''Ellás''), genitive Ἑλλάδος (''Elládos''), an ancient Greek toponym used to refer to: ** Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country i ...
. In 1157 all the coastal towns of Euboea were destroyed by a Sicilian force, while Chalcis was burned down by the Venetians in 1171. Euboea came into prominence following the
Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
. In the partition of the Byzantine Empire by the crusaders after 1204, the island was occupied by a number of Lombard families, who divided it into three baronies, the Triarchy of Negroponte; each barony was split in 1216, giving six sestiere. The island's rulers came early on under the influence of the Venetian Republic, which secured control of the island's commerce in the War of the Euboeote Succession (1256–1258) and gradually expanded its control, until they acquired full sovereignty by 1390. On 12 July 1470, during the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1463–1479 and after a protracted and bloody siege, the well-fortified city of Negroponte (Chalcis) was wrested from Venice by
Mehmed II Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
and the whole island fell into the hands of the Ottoman Empire. The Doge Francesco Morosini besieged the city in 1688, but was forced to withdraw after three months. Although the name Negroponte remained current in European languages until the 19th century, the Turks themselves called the city and the island Eğriboz or Ağriboz after the Euripos Strait. Under Ottoman rule, Ağriboz was the seat of a sanjak that also encompassed much of Continental Greece. At the conclusion of the
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
in 1830, the island returned to Greece and constituted a part of the newly established independent Greek kingdom.


Modern period

In the village of Antia on Euboea island, in 1982 the entire population knew the local whistled language called ''sfyria'', but only a few whistlers remain now. Beginning in late 1943, 1,000 Greek Jews were smuggled from Thessaloniki and Athens via the island by the Greek Resistance and British MI11 to Çeşme in neutral Turkey, thereby escaping the Holocaust in Greece. Euboea is linked to the mainland by two bridges, one that runs through Chalcis and is also accessible from Thebes, and another which bypasses Chalcis and is accessed from Athens. All of Euboea's modern bridges are suspended. In the 1980s, the Dystos lake was filled with grass which was set on fire by farmers to make more farmland. This act caused devastation of much of the plants and the environment in that area. A part of the lake later regenerated. Also the municipalities of Anthidona and Avlida in the mid to late 20th century, which once were part of Boeotia, reverted to Chalcis. Since then, the postal codes corresponded with the rest of Euboea, including Skyros. A week long major forest fire in 2021 destroyed over 50,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land in the north of the island, one of the largest forest fires in modern Greek history.


Mythology

The promontory of Canaeum, which lies opposite the Malian Gulf, together with the neighbouring coast of Trachis, was the scene of the events connected with the death of Heracles, as described by Sophocles in the ''
Trachiniae ''Women of Trachis'' or ''The Trachiniae'' ( grc, Τραχίνιαι, ) c. 450–425 BC, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. ''Women of Trachis'' is generally considered to be less developed than Sophocles' other works, and its dating has been ...
''. Based on the records of the 2nd century AD geographer Pausanias, it is suspected that the
Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
god Crius is an indigenous deity.


Demographics

The population of the island according to the census of 2001 was 198,130, making it the second most populous island of Greece. As a whole the Euboeans share a cultural identity similar to that of the people in the rest of Central Greece and they speak a southern variety of Greek. In the southern part of the island there are Arvanite communities, with the area south of Aliveri being the northernmost limit of their presence in Euboea. Sarakatsani and Vlachs could be found mainly in the mountainous areas in central and northern Euboea respectively, but nowadays they have abandoned the nomadic way of life and live permanently in the towns and villages across the island.


Economics

The mining areas include
magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula (magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic ro ...
in
Mantoudi Mantoudi ( el, Μαντούδι) is a village in the municipal unit of Kireas, Euboea (regional unit), Euboea, Greece. Since the Kallikratis Plan, 2010 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Mantoudi-Limni-Agia Anna. It was the sea ...
and Limni,
lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
in Aliveri and iron and nickel from Dirfys. Marble is mined north of Eretria which include ''
Marmor Chalcidicum Marmor is a form of marble. It may refer to: * Marmor, Queensland, a town in Queensland, Australia * Judd Marmor (1910–2003) American psychiatrist * Kristian Marmor (born 1987), Estonian footballer * Marmorie, or Marmor, a warhorse in the Frenc ...
'' and
asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
in the northeastern part of Carystus in the
Okhi mountain Ochi ( el, Όχη; la, Oche mons) is a mountain in the southeasternmost part of the island of Euboea, Greece. Its maximum elevation is 1,398 m. There are forests on the northern slopes while most of the mountain range is covered with grassland a ...
. The trees include chestnuts.


Transport

* Greek National Road 44, Cen., S, SE *
Greek National Road 77 Greek National Road 77 is a national highway on the island of Euboea, Greece. It connects Chalcis with Aidipsos via Agia Anna and Istiaia Istiaia ( el, Ιστιαία, , before 1913: Ξηροχώρι - ''Xirochori''2.537 Since the 2011 local ...
NW, N, W, Cen.


Local administration

The island belongs to
Euboea Prefecture Euboea ( el, Περιφερειακή ενότητα Εύβοιας) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It consists of the islands of Euboea and Skyros, as well as a 260 km² are ...
which also includes two municipalities on the mainland,
Anthidona Anthidona ( el, Ανθηδόνα) is a former municipality in the Euboea regional unit, Greece. It was named after the ancient Boeotian city Anthedon. During the 2011 local government reform, it became a municipal unit of Chalcis. The population ...
and Avlida, as well as the island municipality of Skyros. At the 2001 census the prefecture had a population of 215,136 inhabitants, whereas the island itself had a population of 198,130. The prefecture's land area is 4,, whereas the total land area of the municipalities actually on the island is 3,, which includes that of numerous small offshore islets (
Petalioi Petalioi el, Πεταλιοί is an island complex in south-east of Euboea, in the homonymous gulf. It consists of 10 small islands and islets almost all uninhabited. The total area of the complex is 22.5 square kilometers. They belong to Karyst ...
) near Euboea's southeastern tip.


Notable people

* Sotiria Bellou (1921–1997), singer *
Mordechai Frizis Mordechai Frizis ( el, Μαρδοχαίος Φριζής; 1 January 1893 – 5 December 1940) was a Hellenic Army officer, who fought in World War I, distinguished himself in World War II, and was killed on 5 December 1940, fighting against the Jul ...
(1893–1940), Romaniote general who helped defeat fascist Italy's Julia Division in southern Albania during the Greco-Italian War *
Konstantinos Kallias Konstantinos Kallias (July 9, 1901 – April 7, 2004) was a Greek politician. He was born in Chalkis. He co-founded with Panagiotis Kanellopoulos the National Unionist Party. He served in many ministerial positions, including Minister for Jus ...
(9 July 19017 April 2004), politician *
Nikolaos Kriezotis Nikolaos Kriezotis ( el, Νικόλαος Κριεζώτης; 1785–1853) was a Greek soldier who served as a leader during the Greek War of Independence in Euboea. Biography Kriezotis was born in 1785, in Karystia, into a family of shepherds. ...
(1785–1853), leader of the Greek Revolution on Euboea * Orestis Makris (1898–1975), actor and tenor *
Georgios Papanikolaou Georgios Nikolaou Papanikolaou (or George Papanicolaou ; el, Γεώργιος Ν. Παπανικολάου ; 13 May 1883 – 19 February 1962) was a Greek physician who was a pioneer in cytopathology and early cancer detection, and inventor of ...
(1883–1962), physician, a pioneer in cytology and early cancer detection * Nikos Skalkottas (1901–1949), composer *
Giannis Skarimpas Giannis Skarimpas, Giannis Skarimbas or Yiannis Skarimbas ( el, Γιάννης Σκαρίμπας; September 28, 1893 – January 21, 1984), was a Greek writer, dramatist, and poet. Biography He was born in Agia Efthymia near Amfissa (now part of ...
(1893–1984), writer *
Porphyrios __NOTOC__ Porphyry (; el, Πορφύριος, links=no, ''Porphyrios'' "purple-clad") may refer to: * Porphyry (geology), an igneous rock with large crystals in a fine-grained matrix and important Roman building material * Porphyritic, the gen ...
(1906–1991), saint of the Orthodox Church * George Marcus, (1941–present), Greek-American real estate pioneer


Sporting teams

* Football:
Chalkida F.C. Athletic Club Chalkis ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Χαλκίς), also known as A.C. Chalkida, is an association football club based in Chalkida, Greece. The club was founded in 1967 upon the merger of Olympiakos Chalkida and Evrypos Ch ...
, Chalkida, third division * Basketball:
Chalkida BC AGEH Gymnastikos B.C. is a Greek professional basketball club that is located in Chalkida, Greece. History AGEH Gymnastikos was founded in 1976, as AGE Chalkida. In 2010, it merged with Gymnastikos Syllogos Chalkida, to form AGEH Gymnastikos. Th ...
, Chalkida, Greek A2 League,
Kymis BC Kymi B.C. or Kymis B.C. is a Greek professional basketball club that is located in Kymi, on the island of Euboea, Greece. The club is also known as G.S. Kymis, with the club's full name being Gymnastikos Syllogos Kymis ( el, Γυμναστικ ...
, Kymi


Gallery

File:Eretria Upper Gymnasium.jpg, The upper gymnasion of ancient Eretria File:Negroponte by Giacomo Franco.jpg, Depiction of Negroponte (
Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
) by Giacomo Franco (1597) File:Aliveri-church.jpg, Church in Aliveri File:Avlonari tower Euboea Greece.jpg, Venetian tower in Avlonari File:Kastro Trachili Euboea Greece.jpg, Venetian tower of Trachili File:Ebbe in Chalkida.jpg, Beach of Chalcis File:Dragon_house_oche.jpg, The
Dragon house Dragon House (German ''Drachenhaus'') is a historical building in Potsdam, Germany, built by King Frederick the Great of Prussia on the southern slope of the Klausberg, which borders the northern edge of Sanssouci Park. It was constructed betwe ...
on Mount Ochi File:Dirfi river.JPG, A tiny river flowing by the Dirfi mountain


See also

* * *


References

*


External links


Official site – English version

Photos from Euboea, Evoia
{{Authority control Aegean islands Islands of Central Greece Landforms of Euboea (regional unit) Islands of Greece Territories of the Republic of Venice