Colonies of ancient ChalcisArchaeological museum of ChalkidaView of the ancient Roman aqueduct
The earliest recorded mention of Chalcis is in theIliad,[7] where it is mentioned in the same line as its rivalEretria. It is also documented that the ships set for theTrojan War gathered at Aulis, the south bank of the strait near the city. Chamber tombs at Trypa and Vromousa dated to theMycenaean period were excavated by Papavasiliou in 1910. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC, colonists from Chalcis founded thirty townships on the peninsula ofChalcidice and several important cities inMagna Graecia andSicily, such asNaxos,Rhegion,Zankle andCumae. Its mineral produces, metal-work,purple, and pottery not only found markets among these settlements but were distributed over theMediterranean in the ships ofCorinth andSamos.[5] The development of the city led consequently to the increase of the population and finally to the colonization with the establishment of many important cities in the West, but also in the Greek area. The first recorded settlement in the West, which paved the way for the 2nd Greek colonization, is Pithecusae on the island of Ischia, in front of Naples, from Chalcidians and Eretrians around 770 BC. The etymology of the toponym "Pithikousa" comes from the pithos (pitharia) that the first settlers had with them to transport their products. Because of the first Chalcidian settlers, the Romans initially called all Greeks "Chalcidians", as they were the first Greeks they came into contact with.A few years later, the Chalcidian Antimnestos founds Rigio in 730-720 BC. and Crataimenis' fellow-citizen Zagli (later Messina) in 730 BC, thus wanting to control the sea strait between Sicily and Italy, just as the Metropolis of Chalkida controlled the Euboean gulfs. In the 8th century BC the increase in trade between the Chalkidian colonies in lower Italy and Sicily with the local populations resulted in the spread of the Chalkidic alphabet among the most ancient inhabitants of the peninsula. The Etruscans took this alphabet and appropriated it so that they too could express themselves in writing. Over the centuries the Romans renamed it 'Latin'.So today, at least eight letters of all Latin-derived languages are the same as their ancient Euboic counterparts. They are C, D, F, P, R, S and X (pronounced ks). The transmission of the Chalkidic alphabet to the west is the most important cultural contribution of ancient Chalkida to the world culture.
TheLelantine War was a war fought in the late 8th century BC. between the two powerful ancient states of Evia, Chalkida and Eretria, which at that time were at the height of their prosperity. This war was one of the first known major wars between ancient Greek cities and took pan-Hellenic dimensions as the warring Chalcidians and Eretrians allied themselves with other Greek cities.As Herodotus mentions, the Samians allied with the Chalcidians, while the Milesians allied with the Eretrians. The Thessalians also allied with the Chalcidians, a fact mentioned by Plutarch. The historical sources provide evidence for only one battle of the war, undoubtedly the last, with the reference point being the death of the Thessalian Amphidamandas, who was praised by Hesiod. In this battle the help from the Thessalian cavalry resulted in victory for Chalkida, by which it acquired the best agricultural district of Euboea and became the chief city of the island. Late in the 6th century BC, its prosperity was broken by a disastrous war with theAthenians, who expelled the ruling aristocracy and settled acleruchy on the site. Chalcis subsequently became a member of both theDelian Leagues.[5]
Chalkis has had aGreco-Jewish presence since antiquity, which is sometimes claimed to have been continuous and to thus form Europe's oldest Jewish community,[8] although there is no evidence of it through the early Middle Ages.[9]
In the Hellenistic period, it gained importance as a fortress by which theMacedonian rulers controlled central Greece. It was used by kingsAntiochus III of Syria (192 BC) andMithradates VI of Pontus (88 BC) as a base for invading Greece.[5] Characteristic is the fact that in 323 BC the Stagerite philosopherAristotle comes to Chalkida to die the following year at his mother's house. Then during the Hellenistic era, settlers from Chalkida founded Chalkida in Syria, by order of Seleucus I, from which settlers founded another Chalkida in the Lebanon Valley, as well as another Chalkida in Arabia.
Under Roman rule, Chalcis retained a measure of commercial prosperity within the province ofAchaea (southern Greece).[5]
Venetian map of Chalcis (Negroponte) (1597).Church ofSaint Paraskevi, patron saint of ChalkisNegroponte byVincenzo Coronelli, 1687The Ottoman fortress of KarababaSt Nicholas church
It is recorded as a city in the 6th-centurySynecdemus and mentioned by the contemporary historianProcopius of Caesarea, who recorded that a movable bridge linked the two shores of the strait.[10] InByzantine times, Chalcis was usually calledEuripos, a name also applied to the entire island of Euboea, although the ancient name survived in administrative and ecclesiastical usage until the 9th century; alternatively, it is possible that the name was given anew to a settlement that was founded in the 9th century in the location of the ancient city, after the latter had been abandoned in the early Middle Ages.[10] The town survived anArab naval raid in the 880s and its bishop is attested in the869–70 Church council held atConstantinople.[10]
By the 12th century, the town featured aVenetian trading station, being attacked by the Venetian fleet in 1171 and eventually seized by Venice in 1209, in the aftermath of theFourth Crusade.[10]
For Westerners, its common name was Negropont or Negroponte. This name comes indirectly from the Greek name of theEuripus Strait: the phrase στὸν Εὔριπον 'to Evripos', wasrebracketed as στὸ Νεὔριπον 'to Nevripos', and became Negroponte in Italian byfolk etymology, theponte 'bridge' being interpreted as the bridge of Chalcis[11] toBoeotia.
The town was a condominium between Venice and theVeronese barons of the rest of Euboea, known as the "triarchs", who resided there. Chalcis or Negroponte became aLatin Churchdiocese, see below. A large hoard of late medieval jewellery dating from Venetian times was found in Chalcis Castle in the nineteenth century and is now in theBritish Museum.[12] The synagogue dated to around 1400.[13]
Chalkida became part of the newborn Greek state after theGreek War of Independence. The modern town received an impetus in its export trade from the establishment of railway connection with Athens and its port Piraeus in 1904. In the early 20th century it was composed of two parts—the old walled town at the bridge over the Euripus, where a number ofTurkish families continued to live until the late 19th century, and a sizeableJewish community lived until World War II, and the more modern suburb that lies outside it, chiefly occupied by Greeks.[5]
The old town, called the Castro (citadel), was surrounded by a full circuit of defense walls until they were completely razed for urban development around the start of the 20th century.[15][16]
On 8 February 1314, the Latin see was unitedin commendam (as an 'additional benefice') with theLatin Patriarchate of Constantinople, so that the exiled Patriarch, excluded from Constantinople itself since theByzantine reconquest of the city, could have actual jurisdiction on Greek soil and exercise a direct role as head of the Latin clergy in what remained ofLatin Greece.[19]
The church ofSaint Paraskevi (thepatron saint ofthe island) was the church of the Dominican Priory of Negroponte, one of the first two houses authorized for the Order of Preachers' Province of Greece in 1249. Started about 1250, this is among the oldest examples of early Dominican architecture surviving, and is one of the only early Dominican churches to retain its original form until the present.[20][21] The central arch over the iconostasis and the ceiling and walls of the south chapel are the best examples of Italian Gothic stone-carving in Greece.[22] Images of the Dominican saints, Dominic and Peter Martyr, stand at the base of the central arch.[23] The north chapel holds the tomb of the founder of the senatorial Lippamano family of Venice. Some of the column capitals are Byzantine.
The Chalcis' Bridge connecting the island with the mainland ofGreece.
The town is now connected to mainland Greece by two bridges, the "Sliding Bridge" in the west at the narrowest point of theEuripus Strait and a suspension bridge.
TheEuripus Strait which separates the city and the island from the mainland was bridged in 411 BC with a wooden bridge. In the time ofJustinian the fixed bridge was replaced with a movable structure. The Turks replaced this once again with a fixed bridge. In 1856, a wooden swing bridge was built; in 1896, an iron swing bridge, and in 1962, the existing "sliding bridge"; the construction works of the 19th century destroyed the most part of the medieval castle built across the bridge. TheEuripus Bridge or Chalcis Bridge, a cable-stayed suspension bridge opened in 1993, joins Chalcis to the mainland to the south.
A special tidal phenomenon takes place in the strait, as strong tidal currents reverse direction once every six hours, creating strong currents and maelstroms.[24][25]
The municipality Chalcis was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of Chalcis city itself with four former municipalities, which also became municipal units:[26]
The Chalkida football team merged with Lilas Vasilikou for a period of two years (2004–2006). The team was finally dissolved because of financial difficulties. Although there was a team created with the same name (AOX) it does not represent the glorious team of the past.
Licodia Eubea, Catania, Sicily Italy - The nameEubea was given to the place in 1872, to identify with Chalcis, because it is believed to be the colony ofLeontini.
^Nikolaus Delinikolaos and Vasiliki Vemi, "Αγία Παρασκευή Χαλκίδας. Ένα βενετικό πρόγραμμα ανοικοδόμησης του 13ο αιώνα." in Chryssa Maltezou and Christina E. Papakosta eds.,Venezia-Eubea, Da Egripos a Negroponte, 2006, 229-266, at pages 248—49.
^Pierre MacKay, "St. Mary of the Dominicans: The Monastery of the Fratres Praedicatores in Negropont." in Chryssa Maltezou and Papakosta eds.,Venezia-Eubea, 125-156.
^Ramsay Traquair, "Frankish Architecture in Greece,"Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects Third Series, 31, (1923—24) 42—48, fig. 13 ("Italian Gothic", p. 47).
^The two first Dominican saints can just be made out at the base of the arch in a photograph in Beata Panagopoulos,Cistercian and Mendicant Monasteries in Mediaeval Greece. Chicago, 1979, plate 105, p. 133, but not with any detail.
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