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== History == ===Ancient Greece=== [[File:Colonies of Chalcis.png|thumb|240px|Colonies of ancient Chalcis]] [[File: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Χαλκίδας 9826.jpg|thumb|Archaeological museum of Chalkida]] [[File:Ydragogeiohalkidas.jpg|thumb|View of the ancient Roman aqueduct]] The earliest recorded mention of Chalcis is in the [[Iliad]],<ref>[[Homer]], [[Iliad|''Il.'']], Bk. II, l. 537.</ref> 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 (Sicily)|Naxos]], [[Reggio Calabria|Rhegion]], [[Messina|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 Island|Samos]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 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. 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 [[Athens|Athenians]], who expelled the ruling aristocracy and settled a [[cleruchy]] on the site. Chalcis subsequently became a member of both the [[Delian League]]s.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Chalkis has had a [[Romaniote Jews|Greco-Jewish]] presence since antiquity, which is sometimes claimed to have been continuous and to thus form Europe's oldest Jewish community,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kis.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=39&Itemid=59|title=ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΑ ΧΑΛΚΙΔΑΣ - ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΟ|website=Kis.gr|access-date=13 January 2018}}</ref> although there is no evidence of it through the early Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite Jewish Encyclopedia |first=Gotthard |last=Deutsch |author-link=Gotthard Deutsch |first2=M. |last2=Caimi |title=Chalcis |url=https://archive.org/stream/jewishencyclopedia03sing#page/660/mode/2up |volume=3 |ref={{harvid|''JE''|1902}} |page=661}}</ref> In the Hellenistic period, it gained importance as a fortress by which the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] rulers controlled central Greece. It was used by kings [[Antiochus III the Great|Antiochus III of Syria]] (192 BC) and [[Mithradates VI of Pontus]] (88 BC) as a base for invading Greece.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 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 (Roman province)|Achaea]] (southern Greece).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} === Middle Ages and early Modern period === {{Further |Triarchy of Negroponte}} [[File:Negroponte by Giacomo Franco.jpg|thumb|Venetian map of Chalcis (Negroponte) (1597).]] [[File:Αγία Παρασκευή Χαλκίδα 2658.jpg|thumb|Church of [[Paraskevi of Rome|Saint Paraskevi]], patron saint of Chalkis]] [[File:Negroponte - Coronelli Vincenzo - 1687.jpg|thumb|left|Negroponte by [[Vincenzo Coronelli]], 1687]] [[File:Κάστρο Καράμπαμπα 0039.jpg|thumb|The Ottoman fortress of Karababa]] [[File:A church in Chalkida.JPG|thumb|St Nicholas church]] 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.<ref name="ODB">{{cite encyclopedia | last=Gregory | first=Timothy E. | title = Chalkis in Greece | editor-last=Kazhdan | editor-first=Alexander | editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan |year=1991 | encyclopedia =[[The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] | publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 | page=407}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ODB"/> The town survived an [[Siege of Euripos|Arab naval raid]] in the 880s and its bishop is attested in the [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Roman Catholic)|869–70 Church council]] held at [[Constantinople]].<ref name="ODB"/> By the 12th century, the town featured a [[Republic of Venice|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]].<ref name="ODB"/> For Westerners, its common name was Negropont or Negroponte. This name comes indirectly from the Greek name of the [[Euripus Strait]]: the phrase στὸν Εὔριπον 'to Evripos', was [[rebracketing|rebracketed]] as στὸ Νεὔριπον 'to Nevripos', and became Negroponte in Italian by [[folk etymology]], the ''ponte'' 'bridge' being interpreted as the bridge of Chalcis<ref name="gibbon">Edward Gibbon, ''[[The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]'', J.B. Bury, ed., Methuen, 1898 [https://books.google.com/books?id=FeU7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA390 p. '''6''':390], footnote 69</ref> to [[Boeotia]]. The town was a condominium between Venice and the [[Verona|Veronese]] barons of the rest of Euboea, known as the "[[triarchy of Negroponte|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x28835?id=x28835&page=4#page-top|title=Collection search: You searched for|website=British Museum|access-date=13 January 2018}}</ref> The synagogue dated to around 1400.{{sfnp|''JE''|1902}} Negroponte played a significant role in the history of [[Frankokratia|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 [[Siege of Negroponte (1470)|long siege]] in 1470.<ref name="ODB"/> That siege is the subject of the [[Rossini]] opera'' [[Maometto II]]''. The Ottomans made it the seat of the Admiral of the [[Eyalet of the Archipelago|Archipelago]] (the Aegean Islands). In 1688, it was [[Siege of Negroponte (1688)|successfully held]] by the Ottomans against a strong Venetian attack.<ref>[[Kevin Andrews (writer)|Kevin Andrews]], ''Castles of the Morea.'' Gennadeion Monographs 4. Princeton: ASCSA Publications 2006 [1953]. p. 185-6</ref> ===The modern town=== [[File:Νέα Αρτάκη Χαλκίδα Εύβοια - panoramio.jpg|thumb|The city hall]] [[File:Court house chalkida.jpg|thumb|Courthouse]] 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 people|Turkish]] families continued to live until the late 19th century, and a sizeable [[Romaniotes|Jewish community]] lived until World War II, and the more modern suburb that lies outside it, chiefly occupied by Greeks.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 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.<ref>Andrews, ''Castles of the Morea''. p. 191.</ref><ref>Spyros Kokkinis, "Ἱστορικὰ μνημεῖα καὶ λαϊκὴ ἀρχιτεκτονικὴ στὴν Χαλκίδα". ''Ἀρχεῖον Εὐβοϊκῶν Μελετῶν'', 15 (1969), 149—248.</ref> The city is served by [[Chalcis railway station|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Central Jewish Council of Greece, coordinating body of the Jewish Communities of Greece |url=https://en.kis.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3844:-2023&catid=99:2009-06-04-07-06-01&Itemid=76 |website=THE EVENT OF I.K. CHALKIDAS FOR HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY 2023 |access-date=10 June 2024}}</ref>
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