The Messapio ( el, Μεσσάπιο, also known as Ktypas (Κτυπάς)) is a small

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

located in the northeastern part of

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, wikt:Βοιωτία, Βοιωτία; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is pa ...

and the mainland part of Euboea regional unit in central

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 wit ...

. It borders on the

North Euboean Gulf The North Euboean Gulf ( el, Βόρειος Ευβοϊκός Κόλπος, ''Voreios Evvoïkos Kolpos'') is a gulf of the Aegean Sea. It separates the northern part of the island Euboea from the mainland of Central Greece. The narrow Euripus S ...

and the

Euripus Strait The Euripus Strait ( el, Εύριπος ) is a narrow channel of water separating the Greek island of Euboea in the Aegean Sea from Boeotia in mainland Greece. The strait's principal port is Chalcis on Euboea, located at the strait's narrowest poi ...

to the north and east. Its highest point is 1,021 m. It is 20 km long and 10 to 15 km wide and covers an area of 300 km². It separates the area around

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 f ...

from the Boeotian plains around Thebes. In the south, on the slope of the 740 m high mountain Ypato, there is the monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour. The nearest mountain ranges are the Ptoo to the northwest. The Motorway 1 (Athens - Larissa - Thessaloniki) passes south of the mountain.

Settlements

* North: Loukisia,

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 w ...

* East:

, Vathy and

Ritsona Vathy ( el, Βαθύ) is a town and a community in the municipal unit of Avlida in the Euboea regional unit, Greece. It is situated on the Greek mainland, near the South Euboean Gulf, 6 km south of Chalcis. The Greek National Road 44 ( Thebes - ...

* South: Ypato * West: Mouriki

History

The Messapion was mentioned by

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: * Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...

in his ''

Description of Greece Pausanias ( /pɔːˈseɪniəs/; grc-gre, Παυσανίας; c. 110 – c. 180) was a Greek traveler and geographer of the second century AD. He is famous for his ''Description of Greece'' (, ), a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece ...

''.

, ''Description of Greece'' 9.22.
link at the Greek Wikisource
τῆς δὲ Βοιωτίας τὰ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τοῦ Εὐρίπου Μεσσάπιον ὄρος καλούμενον καὶ ὑπ' αὐτῷ Βοιωτῶν ἐπὶ θαλάσσης πόλις ἐστὶν Ἀνθηδών
Within Boeotia to the left of the Euripus is Mount Messapius, at the foot of which on the coast is the Boeotian city of Anthedon. Most of the mountain used to be covered with dense pine forests, and it was rich in animals such as foxes, jackals and wolves. But fires and deforestation have largely destroyed the forests since the 1940s.

References

{{reflist Landforms of Euboea (regional unit) Landforms of Boeotia Mountain ranges of Greece Landforms of Central Greece