Euboea is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow
Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is
a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about 150 kilometres long, and varies
in breadth from 50 kilometres to 6 kilometres. Its general direction is from northwest to
southeast, and it is traversed throughout its length by a mountain range, which forms
part of the chain that bounds Thessaly on the east, and is continued south of Euboea
in the lofty islands of Andros, Tinos and Mykonos.
Name
Like most of the Greek islands, Euboea was originally known under other names in Antiquity,
such as Macris and Doliche from its elongated shape, or Ellopia, Aonia and Abantis from
the tribes inhabiting it. Its ancient and current name, Εὔβοια, derives from
the words εὖ "good", and βοῦς "ox", meaning "the land of the well-fed oxen".
In the Middle Ages, the island was often referred to by Byzantine authors by the name of its
capital, Chalcis or Euripos, although the ancient name Euboea remained in use by classicizing
authors until the 15th century. In Western usage, the Italian name Negroponte entered
common use in the 13th century. Under Ottoman rule, the island and its capital
were known as Eğriboz or Ağriboz, again after the Euripos strait.
Geography
Euboea was believed to have originally formed part of the mainland, and to have been separated
from it by an earthquake. This is fairly probable, because it lies in the neighbourhood of a
fault line, and both Thucydides and Strabo write that the northern part of the island
had been shaken at different periods. In the neighbourhood of Chalcis, both to the north
and the south, the bays are so confined as to make plausible the story of Agamemnon's
fleet having been detained there by contrary winds. At Chalcis itself, where the strait
is narrowest at only 40 m, it is called the Euripus Strait. The extraordinary changes
of tide that take place in this passage have been a subject of note since classical times.
At one moment the current runs like a river in one direction, and shortly afterwards with
equal velocity in the other. A bridge was first constructed here in the twenty-first
year of the Peloponnesian War. Geography and nature divide the island itself
into three distinct parts: the fertile and forested north, the mountainous centre, with
agriculture limited to the coastal valleys, and the barren south.
The main mountains include Dirfi), Pyxaria) in the northeast and Ochi). The neighboring
gulfs are the Pagasetic Gulf in the north, Malian Gulf, North Euboean Gulf in the west,
the Euboic Sea and the Petalion Gulf. At the 2001 census the island had a population of
198,130, and a total land area of 3,684 square kilometres.
History Antiquity
The history of the island of Euboea is largely that of its two principal cities, Chalcis
and Eretria, both mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships. Both cities were settled by Ionian
Greeks from Attica, and would eventually settle numerous colonies in Magna Graecia and Sicily,
such as Cumae and Rhegium, and on the coast of Macedonia. This opened new trade routes
to the Greeks, and extended the reach of western civilization. The commercial influence of
these city-states is evident in the fact that the Euboic scale of weights and measures was
used among the Ionic cities generally, and in Athens until the end of the 7th century
BC, during the time of Solon. The classicist Barry B. Powell has proposed that Euboea may
have been where the Greek alphabet was first employed, c. 775-750 BC, and that Homer may
have spent part of his life on the island. Chalcis and Eretria were rival cities, and
appear to have been equally powerful for a while. One of the earliest major military
conflicts in Greek history took place between them, known as the Lelantine War, in which
many other Greek city-states also took part. In 490 BC, Eretria was utterly ruined and
its inhabitants were transported to Persia. Though it was restored nearby its original
site after the Battle of Marathon, the city never regained its former eminence.
Both cities gradually lost influence to Athens, which saw Euboea as a strategic territory.
Euboea was an important source of grain and cattle, and controlling the island meant Athens
could prevent invasion and better protect its trade routes from piracy.
Athens invaded Chalcis in 506 BC and settled 4,000 Attic Greeks on their lands. After this
conflict, the whole of the island was gradually reduced to an Athenian dependency. Another
struggle between Euboea and Athens broke out in 446. Led by Pericles, the Athenians subdued
the revolt, and captured Histiaea in the north of the island for their own settlement.
By 410 BC, the island succeeded in regaining its independence. Euboea participated in Greek
affairs until falling under the control of Philip II of Macedon after the Battle of Chaeronea
in 338 BC, and eventually being incorporated into the Roman Republic in the second century
BC. Aristotle died on the island in 322 BC soon after fleeing Athens for his mother's
family estate in Chalcis. Based on the records of the 2nd century AD
geographer Pausanias, it is suspected that the Titan god Crius is an indigenous deity.
Middle Ages
Due to its relatively isolated location, Euboea was spared the bulk of the barbarian raids
during Late Antiquity and the early medieval period. The Vandals raided its shores in 466
and in 475, but the island seems to have been left alone by the Avars and Slavs, and it
was not until a failed Arab attack on Chalcis in the 870s that the island again came under
threat. As a result, the island preserved a relative prosperity throughout the early
medieval period, as attested by finds of mosaics, churches and sculpture throughout the 7th
century, "even from remote areas of the island". In the 6th century, the Synecdemus listed
four cities on the island, Aidipsos, Chalcis, Porthmos and Karystos, and a number of other
sites are known as bishoprics in the subsequent centuries, although their urban character
is unclear. In the 8th century, Euboea formed a distinct fiscal district, and then formed
part of the theme of Hellas. In 1157 all the coastal towns of Euboea were
destroyed by a Sicilian force, while Chalcis was burned down by the Venetians in 1171.
Euboea came into prominence following the Fourth Crusade. In the partition of the Byzantine
Empire by the crusaders after 1204, the island was occupied by a number of Lombard families,
who divided it into three baronies. The island's rulers came early on under the influence of
the Venetian Republic, which secured control of the island's commerce in the War of the
Euboeote Succession and gradually expanded its control, until they acquired full sovereignty
by 1390. On 12 July 1470, during the Ottoman–Venetian
War of 1463–1479 and after a protracted and bloody siege, the well-fortified city
of Negroponte was wrested from Venice by Mehmed II and the whole island fell into the hands
of the Ottoman Empire. Although the name Negroponte remained current in European languages until
the 19th century, the Turks themselves called the city and the island Eğriboz or Ağriboz
after the Euripos Strait. Under Ottoman rule, Ağriboz was the seat of a sanjak encompassing
much of Continental Greece as well. At the conclusion of the Greek War of Independence
in 1830, the island constituted a part of the newly established independent Greek kingdom.
Modern period
Euboea is linked to the mainland by two bridges, one that runs through Chalkis and is also
accessible from Thebes, and another which bypasses Chalcis and is accessed from Athens.
All of Euboea's modern bridges are suspended. In the 1980s, the Dystos lake was filled with
grass which was set on fire by farmers to make more farmland. This act caused devastation
of much of the plants and the environment in that area. A part of the lake later regenerated.
Also the municipalities of Anthidona and Avlida in the mid to late 20th century, which once
were part of Boeotia, reverted to Chalkis. Since then, the postal codes corresponded
with the rest of Euboea, including Skyros. Demographics
The population of the island according to the census of 2001 was 198,130, making it
the second most populous island of Greece. As a whole the Euboeans share a cultural identity
similar to that of the people in the rest of Central Greece and they speak a southern
variety of Greek. In the southern part of the island there are Arvanite communities,
with the area south of Aliveri being the northernmost limit of their presence in Euboea. Sarakatsani
and Vlachs could be found mainly in the mountainous areas in central and northern Euboea respectively,
but nowadays they have abandoned the nomadic way of life and live permanently in the towns
and villages across the island. Economics
The mining areas include magnesite in Mantoudi and Limni, lignite in Aliveri and iron and
nickel from Dirfys. Marble is mined 3 km north of Eretria which include Marmor Chalcidicum
and asbestos in the northeastern part of Carystus in the Okhi mountain. The trees include chestnuts.
Transport Greek National Road 44, Cen., S, SE
Greek National Road 77 NW, N, W, Cen. Local administration
The island belongs to Euboea Prefecture which also includes two municipalities on the mainland,
Anthidona and Avlida, as well as the island municipality of Skyros. At the 2001 census
the prefecture had a population of 215,136 inhabitants, whereas the island itself had
a population of 198,130. The prefecture's land area is 4,167.449 km2, whereas the total
land area of the municipalities actually on the island is 3,684.848 km2, which includes
that of numerous small offshore islets near Euboea's southeastern tip.
Notable people Sotiria Bellou, singer
Mordechai Frizis, Romaniote general who helped defeat fascist Italy's Julia Division in southern
Albania during the Greco-Italian War Konstantinos Kallias, politician
Nikolaos Kriezotis, leader of the Greek Revolution in Euboea
Orestis Makris, actor and tenor Georgios Papanikolaou physician, a pioneer
in cytology and early cancer detection Nikos Skalkottas, composer
Giannis Skarimpas, writer St. David of Euboea, 16th-century saint who
built a church dedicated to the Transfiguration Elder Porphyrios, Holy Father of the Orthodox
Church Sporting teams
Football: Khalkis-Lilas—Chalkida, third division
Basketball: Chalkida BC—Chalkida, Greek A2 League
Gallery
See also List of settlements in the Euboea regional
unit List of traditional Greek place names
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh,
ed.. Encyclopædia Britannica. Cambridge University Press.
External links Official site - English version
Photos from Euboea, Evoia