Kymi ( Greek: , ) is a coastal town and a former municipality (7,112 inhabitants in 2011) in the island of

Euboea 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 poi ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

, named after an ancient Greek place of the same name. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Kymi-Aliveri, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 167.616 km². The ancient Euboean Kyme is mentioned as a harbor town related to the more prominent '' poleis'' of Chalkis and Eretria in antiquity. Together with these, it is sometimes named as the founding ''metropolis'' of the homonymous Kymē (Cumae) in Italy, an important early Euboean colony, which was probably named after it. There are few or no archaeological traces of ancient Euboean Kyme, and its exact location is not known. A

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

settlement has been excavated in nearby Mourteri. Some modern authors believe that Kyme never existed as an independent ''polis'' in historical times but that it was a mere village dependent on either Chalkis or Eretria.

Attractions

Kymi is a small town and the surrounding region overlooks the Aegean Sea. Due to its vantage point, Kymi is sometimes called "The Balcony of the Aegean". Kymi has one of the largest man-made ports in the country and serves as a transportation hub for the eastern Aegean Islands and northern Greece. The city Kymi is considered the greenest of Greece in terms of native vegetation and is second all in clean sand beaches. There are numerous tourist and sightseeing attractions, such as the house of the noted pathologist and researcher George Papanicolaou, inventor of the Pap smear, the Folklore Museum of Kymi, the Monastery of the Transfiguration, three small Byzantine churches in Oxilithos, the Archaeological Collection and the Archaeological Sites, and a ruined Venetian tower in San handkerchief etc. The most well known agricultural products produced in Kymi are figs, cherries and olive oil. Local specialties include the "cocoon display," handicrafts made from cocoons, and sweets such as baklava and almond.

Notable Kymiotes

* Georgios Papanikolaou (1883–1962), physician, a pioneer in cytology and early cancer detection, and the inventor of the

Pap test The Papanicolaou test (abbreviated as Pap test, also known as Pap smear (AE), cervical smear (BE), cervical screening (BE), or smear test (BE)) is a method of cervical screening used to detect potentially precancerous and cancerous processes in t ...

for cervical cancer * Major

Ioannis Velissariou Ioannis Velissariou ( el, Ιωάννης Βελισσαρίου, 26 November 1861 – 13 July 1913) was a Hellenic Army officer and hero of the Balkan Wars. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in the military history of mo ...

(1861–1913), popular hero of the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

* Admiral Nikolaos Pappas (1930–2013), commander of the destroyer , mutinied in 1973 in protest against the Regime of the Colonels, later Chief of the Navy and government minister.

Climate

Transportation

The road network in the Kymi region is quite underdeveloped. There is only one major road (regional road) connecting the city of Kymi with Chania Avlonariou (a part of Avlonari), Aliveri and from there to the Greek National Road 44 towards Chalkis and

Karystos Karystos ( el, Κάρυστος) or Carystus is a small coastal town on the Greek island of Euboea. It has about 5,000 inhabitants (12,000 in the municipality). It lies 129 km south of Chalkis. From Athens it is accessible by ferry via ...

Sports

Kymi has a few basketball courts, as well as an outdoor football pitch. There is also a sports club called Kymi Sports Club, with teams in football, basketball and volleyball.

References

{{Kymi-Aliveri div Populated places in Euboea Ancient Euboea Cities in ancient Greece