City on the island of Euboea, Greece
Municipality in Greece
Chalcis
(
;
[4]
Ancient Greek
&
Katharevousa
:
Χαλκ??
,
romanized
:
Chalkis
), also called
Chalkida
or
Halkida
(
Modern Greek
:
Χαλκ?δα
,
pronounced
[xal?ciða]
), 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
antiquity
and is derived from the Greek
χαλκ??
(
copper
,
bronze
), though there is no trace of any mines in the area.
[6]
In the
Late Middle Ages
, it was known as
Negropont(e)
, an Italian name that has also been applied to the entire island of Euboea.
History
[
edit
]
Ancient Greece
[
edit
]
The earliest recorded mention of Chalcis is in the
Iliad
,
[7]
where it is mentioned in the same line as its rival
Eretria
. It is also documented that the ships set for the
Trojan War
gathered at Aulis, the south bank of the strait near the city. Chamber tombs at Trypa and Vromousa dated to the
Mycenaean period
were excavated by Papavasiliou in 1910. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC, colonists from Chalcis founded thirty townships on the peninsula of
Chalcidice
and several important cities in
Magna Graecia
and
Sicily
, such as
Naxos
,
Rhegion
,
Zankle
and
Cumae
. Its mineral produces, metal-work,
purple
, and pottery not only found markets among these settlements but were distributed over the
Mediterranean
in the ships of
Corinth
and
Samos
.
The development of the city leads 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.
The
Lelantine 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 the
Athenians
, who expelled the ruling aristocracy and settled a
cleruchy
on the site. Chalcis subsequently became a member of both the
Delian Leagues
.
Chalkis has had a
Greco-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 the
Macedonian
rulers controlled central Greece. It was used by kings
Antiochus III of Syria
(192 BC) and
Mithradates VI of Pontus
(88 BC) as a base for invading Greece.
Characteristic is the fact that in 323 BC the Stagerite philosopher
Aristotle
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 of
Achaea
(southern Greece).
Middle Ages and early Modern period
[
edit
]
It is recorded as a city in the 6th-century
Synecdemus
and mentioned by the contemporary historian
Procopius of Caesarea
, who recorded that a movable bridge linked the two shores of the strait.
[10]
In
Byzantine
times, Chalcis was usually called
Euripos
, 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 an
Arab naval raid
in the 880s and its bishop is attested in the
869?70 Church council
held at
Constantinople
.
[10]
By the 12th century, the town featured a
Venetian
trading station, being attacked by the Venetian fleet in 1171 and eventually seized by Venice in 1209, in the aftermath of the
Fourth Crusade
.
[10]
For Westerners, its common name was Negropont or Negroponte. This name comes indirectly from the Greek name of the
Euripus Strait
: the phrase στ?ν Ε?ριπον 'to Evripos', was
rebracketed
as στ? Νε?ριπον 'to Nevripos', and became Negroponte in Italian by
folk etymology
, the
ponte
'bridge' being interpreted as the bridge of Chalcis
[11]
to
Boeotia
.
The town was a condominium between Venice and the
Veronese
barons of the rest of Euboea, known as the "
triarchs
", who resided there. Chalcis or Negroponte became a
Latin Church
diocese
, 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 the
British Museum
.
[12]
The synagogue dated to around 1400.
Negroponte played a significant role in the history of
Frankish Greece
, and was attacked by the
Principality of Achaea
in the
War of the Euboeote Succession
(1257/8), the
Catalan Company
in 1317, the Turks in 1350/1, until it was finally captured by the
Ottoman Empire
after a
long siege
in 1470.
[10]
That siege is the subject of the
Rossini
opera
Maometto II
. The Ottomans made it the seat of the Admiral of the
Archipelago
(the Aegean Islands). In 1688, it was
successfully held
by the Ottomans against a strong Venetian attack.
[14]
The modern town
[
edit
]
Chalkida became part of the newborn Greek state after the
Greek 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 of
Turkish
families continued to live until the late 19th century, and a sizeable
Jewish community
lived until World War II, and the more modern suburb that lies outside it, chiefly occupied by Greeks.
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]
The city is served by
a railway station
and is the terminus for the
Athens Suburban Railway
to Athens.
There is a
Holocaust memorial
honoring the Jewish lives lost during World War II outside of the Chalkis Jewish cemetery.
[17]
Ecclesiastical history
[
edit
]
Greek bishopric
[
edit
]
The Byzantine diocese of Chalkis was initially a
suffragan
of the
Archdiocese of Corinth
, but in the 9th century was transferred to the Metropolitan of Athens, remaining in the sway of the
Patriarchate of Constantinople
. It was also known as Euripo, like it is mentioned in the Byzantine imperial
Notitia Episcopatuum
since emperor
Leo VI the Wise
(886-912).
Several of its Greek bishops are recorded, but some are disputed :
Latin crusader bishopric
[
edit
]
At the establishment of the
crusader state
Lordship of Negroponte
, Chalcis or Negroponte (seat of the central one of its three 'triarchies' constituent baronies) became a
Latin Church
diocese
, the first bishop being Theodorus, the Greek bishop of the see, who entered
communion
with the
see of Rome
,
[18]
installed by
papal legate
.
On 8 February 1314, the Latin see was united
in commendam
(as an 'additional benefice') with the
Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople
, so that the exiled Patriarch, excluded from Constantinople itself since the
Byzantine
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 of
Latin Greece
.
[19]
Main sights
[
edit
]
The church of
Saint Paraskevi
(the
patron saint
of
the 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 bridges
[
edit
]
The town is now connected to mainland Greece by two bridges, the "Sliding Bridge" in the west at the narrowest point of the
Euripus Strait
and a suspension bridge.
The
Euripus Strait
which separates the city and the island from the mainland was bridged in 411 BC with a wooden bridge. In the time of
Justinian
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. The
Euripus 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]
Municipality
[
edit
]
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 municipality has an area of 424.766 km
2
, the municipal unit 30.804 km
2
.
[27]
Transportation
[
edit
]
In 2003, a bypass of Chalcis was opened from the southern part of the bridge to connect with GR-77, also with access to GR-44.
Chalcis station
is the northern terminus of the
Oinoi?Chalcis railway
, and is served by Line 3 of the
Athens Suburban Railway
.
Historical population
[
edit
]
Year
|
Town population
|
Municipality population
|
1981
|
44,847
|
-
|
1991
|
51,646
|
-
|
2001
|
53,584
|
-
|
2011
|
59,125
|
102,223
|
2021
|
64,490
|
109,256
|
Notable residents
[
edit
]
- Aristotle
(384?322 BC, ancient philosopher, lived in Chalcis the last year of his life (323?322 BC))
- Giovanni Maria Angiolello
from Vicenza, Italy, 15th century.
- Yiannis Anastasopoulos (1931?present), author
- Eva Asderaki
Professional Tennis Umpire, first woman to umpire the
US Open tennis
final
- Sotiria Bellou
(1921?1997), singer
- Angelos Basinas
(1976?present), professional footballer
- Nikolaos Christodoulou
, military officer
- Mordehai Frizis
(1893?1940), military officer
- Dimitrios Katheniotis
, military officer
- Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos
, PM of Greece
- Konstantinos Kallias
(1901?2004), politician
- Orestis Makris
(1898?1975), actor and tenor
- Dimitris Mytaras
(1934?2017), painter
- Georgios Papanikolaou
(1883?1962), physician,
Pap smear
test founder
- Nikos Skalkottas
(1901?1949), composer
- Giannis Skarimpas
(
Agia Efthymia
, 1893?1984), author
- Georgios Papachatzis
(1905?1991), jurist
Sports teams
[
edit
]
Chalcis also has a
water polo
team named
NC Chalkida
, a football (soccer) team named
Chalkida F.C.
, as well as a junior football team named
Evoikos
Chalkida.
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.
Chalcis also has a basketball team (
AGEX
), which previously played in the
Greek A2 Basketball League
. For a while, Chalkida hosts the basketball team
Ikaros Chalkidas
that played in the top
Greek Basket League
.
Twin towns
[
edit
]
Chalcis is
twinned
with:
Geography
[
edit
]
Climate
[
edit
]
Chalcis has a
mediterranean climate
(
Koppen climate classification
:
Csa
), closely bordering a
semi-arid
climate with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters.
Climate data for Chalcis
|
Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
|
12.9
(55.2)
|
13.6
(56.5)
|
16.0
(60.8)
|
20.3
(68.5)
|
25.3
(77.5)
|
29.8
(85.6)
|
32.6
(90.7)
|
32.3
(90.1)
|
28.9
(84.0)
|
23.1
(73.6)
|
18.6
(65.5)
|
14.7
(58.5)
|
22.3
(72.1)
|
Daily mean °C (°F)
|
9.3
(48.7)
|
9.8
(49.6)
|
11.7
(53.1)
|
15.5
(59.9)
|
20.2
(68.4)
|
24.6
(76.3)
|
27.0
(80.6)
|
26.6
(79.9)
|
23.3
(73.9)
|
18.3
(64.9)
|
14.4
(57.9)
|
11.1
(52.0)
|
17.7
(63.9)
|
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
|
6.5
(43.7)
|
6.9
(44.4)
|
8.4
(47.1)
|
11.6
(52.9)
|
15.4
(59.7)
|
20.1
(68.2)
|
22.5
(72.5)
|
22.3
(72.1)
|
19.2
(66.6)
|
14.9
(58.8)
|
11.4
(52.5)
|
8.3
(46.9)
|
14.0
(57.2)
|
Average rainfall mm (inches)
|
44.6
(1.76)
|
48.3
(1.90)
|
42.6
(1.68)
|
28.2
(1.11)
|
17.2
(0.68)
|
9.7
(0.38)
|
4.2
(0.17)
|
4.6
(0.18)
|
11.9
(0.47)
|
47.7
(1.88)
|
50.6
(1.99)
|
66.6
(2.62)
|
376.2
(14.82)
|
Average
relative humidity
(%)
|
72
|
71
|
68
|
62
|
58
|
52
|
48
|
49
|
56
|
66
|
73
|
73
|
62
|
Mean monthly
sunshine hours
|
137.9
|
144.5
|
187.5
|
238.9
|
303.3
|
341.2
|
373.7
|
356.5
|
283.4
|
218.5
|
164.3
|
136.4
|
2,886.1
|
Source 1: www.yr.no
[28]
|
Source 2: www.weather.gr
[29]
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Municipality of Chalkida, Municipal elections ? October 2023
, Ministry of Interior
- ^
"Αποτελ?σματα Απογραφ?? Πληθυσμο? - Κατοικι?ν 2021, Μ?νιμο? Πληθυσμ?? κατ? οικισμ?"
[Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
- ^
Oxford English Dictionary
, 1st ed. "
Chalcidian,
n.
&
adj.
3
". Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1933.
- ^
Richmond, Henry J. (1905),
The Pronunciation of Greek and Latin Proper Names in English
, Ann Arbor: George Wahr, p.
32
,
ISBN
9780857927866
, archived from
the original
on 2016-03-04
- ^
Simon C. Bakhuizen, R. Kreulen,
Chalcis-in-Euboea: Iron and Chalcidians Abroad
, Brill Archive, 1976, p. 58.
- ^
Homer
,
Il.
, Bk. II, l. 537.
- ^
"ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΑ ΧΑΛΚΙΔΑΣ - ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΟ"
.
Kis.gr
. Retrieved
13 January
2018
.
- ^
Deutsch, Gotthard
; Caimi, M. (1902).
"Chalcis"
. In
Singer, Isidore
; et al. (eds.).
The Jewish Encyclopedia
. Vol. 3. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 661.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Gregory, Timothy E. (1991). "Chalkis in Greece". In
Kazhdan, Alexander
(ed.).
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
. Oxford University Press. p. 407.
ISBN
978-0-19-504652-6
.
- ^
Edward Gibbon,
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
, J.B. Bury, ed., Methuen, 1898
p.
6
:390
, footnote 69
- ^
"Collection search: You searched for"
.
British Museum
. Retrieved
13 January
2018
.
- ^
Kevin Andrews
,
Castles of the Morea.
Gennadeion Monographs 4. Princeton: ASCSA Publications 2006 [1953]. p. 185-6
- ^
Andrews,
Castles of the Morea
. p. 191.
- ^
Spyros Kokkinis, "?στορικ? μνημε?α κα? λα?κ? ?ρχιτεκτονικ? στ?ν Χαλκ?δα".
?ρχε?ον Ε?βο?κ?ν Μελετ?ν
, 15 (1969), 149?248.
- ^
"Central Jewish Council of Greece, coordinating body of the Jewish Communities of Greece"
.
THE EVENT OF I.K. CHALKIDAS FOR HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY 2023
. Retrieved
10 June
2024
.
- ^
Michel Lequien,
Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus
, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 212-215
- ^
Loenertz, R.-J. (1966).
"Cardinale Morosini et Paul Paleologue Tagaris, patriarches, et Antoine Ballester, vicaire du Papae, dans le patriarcat de Constantinople (1332-34 et 1380-87)"
.
Revue des etudes byzantines
(in French).
24
: 224?256.
doi
:
10.3406/rebyz.1966.1373
.
- ^
Nikolaus Delinikolaos and Vasiliki Vemi, "Αγ?α Παρασκευ? Χαλκ?δα?. ?να βενετικ? πρ?γραμμα ανοικοδ?μηση? του 13ο αι?να." 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.
- ^
Eginitis, D. (1929).
"The problem of the tide of Euripus"
.
Astronomische Nachrichten
.
236
(19?20): 321?328.
Bibcode
:
1929AN....236..321E
.
doi
:
10.1002/asna.19292361904
.
See also the commentary about this explanation in
Lagrange, E. (1930). "Les marees de l'Euripe".
Ciel et Terre (Bulletin of the Societe Belge d'Astronomie)
(in French).
46
: 66?69.
Bibcode
:
1930C&T....46...66L
.
- ^
"Evia Island"
.
Chalkis
. Evia.gr
. Retrieved
29 June
2013
.
- ^
"ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text"
(in Greek).
Government Gazette
.
- ^
"Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)"
(PDF)
(in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2015-09-21.
- ^
"Weather statistics for Chalcis, Central Greece (Greece)"
.
Yr.no
. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
23 March
2015
.
- ^
"ATHENS (NAT.OBS.) Climate"
.
Weather.gr
. Retrieved
13 January
2018
.
Sources and external links
[
edit
]
- Bibliography - ecclesiastical history
- Pius Bonifacius Gams,
Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae
, Leipzig 1931, pp. 430?431
- Michel Lequien,
Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus
, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 212-215
- Gaetano Moroni,
Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica
, vol. 47, pp. 262?263
- Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 1, p. 367; vol. 2, p. 203; vol. 3, p. 259
- Raymond Janin, v. 2. 'Chalcis', in
Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Geographie ecclesiastiques
, vol. XII, Paris 1953, coll. 278-279
Places adjacent to Chalcis
|
---|
|
|
---|
- Area
- 15,549 km
2
(6,004 sq mi)
- Population
- 547,390 (as of 2011)
- Municipalities
- 25 (since
2011
)
- Capital
- Lamia
|
Regional unit of
Boeotia
| | |
---|
Regional unit of
Euboea
| |
---|
Regional unit of
Evrytania
| |
---|
Regional unit of
Phocis
| |
---|
Regional unit of
Phthiotis
| |
---|
|
Subdivisions of the municipality of
Chalcis
|
---|
Municipal unit of
Anthidona
| |
---|
Municipal unit of
Avlida
| |
---|
Municipal unit of
Chalcis
| |
---|
Municipal unit of
Lilantia
|
- Afrati
- Agios Nikolaos
- Fylla
- Mytikas
- Nea Lampsakos
- Vasiliko
|
---|
Municipal unit of
Nea Artaki
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Geographic
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|