Vathy () is a town and a community in the municipal unit of Avlida in the Euboea regional unit,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is situated on the Greek mainland, near the

South Euboean Gulf The South Euboean Gulf (, ''Notios Evvoïkos Kolpos'') is a gulf in Central Greece, between the island of Euboea and the Greek mainland (Boeotia and Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a h ...

, 6 km south of

Chalcis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

. The Greek National Road 44 ( Thebes - Chalcis - Karystos) passes west of the town. The community Vathy consists of the town Vathy and the villages Mikro Vathy, Paralia and Ritsona.

Population

Ritsona

The village Ritsona (), population 535, is 7 km west of Vathy. The name Ritsona is believed to come from resin, referring to the pines that used to be abundant in the area. In recent years due to forest fires, a large part of the area's pine trees have disappeared. Today there are many vineyards. Its history began during the Homeric period with the ancient

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...

n city of Mykalissos. The archaeological site was extensively excavated between 1909 and 1922 by Ronald Burrows and Percy and Annie Ure, under the aegis of the

American School of Classical Studies at Athens The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA; ) is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federat ...

. In May 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the occupying Germans executed 110 Greek soldiers here that had been wounded in the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balk ...

in retaliation for an assault by the Greek resistance. The Ritsona Rally is one of the most famous car races in Greece, taking place every year in December since 1956. Ritsona is the place, where – 13 years after legalization – the first

crematorium A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a ...

in Greece was opened at the end of September 2019.

References

{{Chalcis div Populated places in Euboea (regional unit) Chalcis

Population

Ritsona

See also

References