History of the area
History of the City of Chalkida
Chalkida was one of the largest Greek cities of antiquity long before Athens and Sparta. It is said that its name comes from the Phoenician word “Kalchi” meaning “purple”, because of the fact that the area was used to fish for shells from which the purple (red) colour came.Because of its sought-after nerve centre position, it was conquered by the Phoenicians and the Cretans.
The South Euboeikos and even the port of Avlida was the starting point of the ship of Argos for the seizure of the golden fleece in 1360 BC (Argonautic Campaign). The Chalcidian people also started from Avlida to participate in the Trojan War in 1194 BC. Many cities were developed in Euboea in antiquity. Of these, Chalkida and Eretria were the most important. Fierce and bloody struggles took place between them for the possession of the area of the Lila River, during the 9th and 10th centuries BC, which were called the Lelantian Wars.
In the 8th and 7th centuries BC they developed many colonies. Today’s Neapolis in southern Italy was originally built by them and was called Cymes. The cities of Rigio and Catania were also built by the Chalcedans, as the monuments and inscriptions with the special Chalcidian alphabet that have been found attest. From this alphabet, which was taken over by the Italian tribes of Samnites, Latins and Etruscans, the Latin alphabet was eventually formed. The Chalcedans clashed many times with the Athenians but were finally defeated by them in 510 BC and placed under their high suzerainty. This was the reason for Chalcis’ abstention from the Persian wars. On the contrary, their neighbour Eretria took part in them and was completely destroyed by the Persians. After the Median wars, the Chalcedans tried to shake off the Athenians’ high suzerainty twice. The first time they failed due to the timely intervention of Pericles. During the second, they decided to prevent the Athenian ships from passing through the Euboean Gulf, by damming up the Euphorus so that only one ship could pass. Furthermore, they built towers and bridges. Attempts by the Athenians to prevent them failed. Their hostile attitude towards the Athenians continued during the reign of Philip and Alexander. During the Byzantine period, the bridge was improved and the whole city was fortified in the Byzantine manner. After the Fourth Crusade (1204 – 1205) Chalkida (as it was called by the Venetians) passed to the selfish suzerainty of the Venetians. They repaired the walls and built a new tower and a new bridge on the Evripos, which was opened for ships to pass. In 1470, the city fell to the Turks after an attack led by Sultan Mohammed himself from the edge of Kanithos Hill on the Boeotian coast, right next to the Euripus Strait. The Turks suffered a loss of 77,000 men for its capture. The only project during the Turkish occupation was the construction of a fortress on Kanithos hill, renamed Kara-Baba. In the revolution of 1821, many Euboeans took part, such as the Commander-in-Chief of Euboea Nik. Nikos Kriezotis, who was imposed as a national figure and Andreas Miaoulis who came from the village of Phyllas in Evia. Evia was liberated from the Turkish yoke on March 25, 1833. Today, after about 170 years of free life, Chalkida, a city of about 60,000 inhabitants, belongs to the rapidly developing regions with a bright future in tourism, industry and culture.
Paliroiac phenomenon
The island of Evia is separated from Central Greece by the strait of Euripos, which at the bridge has a distance of 40 m and a depth of 8.5 m. The name Euripos is probably due to its volatility, because the ancient Greeks called volatile characters Euripos, and often used the phrases “Euripos man”, “Euripos intellect”, “Euripos luck” for instability. In it there is a tidal strong local current, whose speed reaches 8.5 miles and changes direction 4 times a day; the waters move for 3 hours in one direction with a gradually increasing speed, and then for another 3 hours with a decreasing speed. After about 6 hours, the waters calm down for 2 minutes and then change direction.The tidal phenomenon of Euripus is unique in the world because it has many strange peculiarities that are not found in other similar phenomena all over the world. The fact that the phenomenon, as deduced from observations, is completed in 24 hours and 52 minutes, i.e. in one lunar day, and changes its form and intensity with the phases of the moon, proves that it is tidal and is caused by the attraction of the liquid molecules of the sea by the moon.
The main peculiarities of the Euripus phenomenon are:
– The high speed of the current, which should normally be imperceptible because the Evian is a closed sea with enormous friction that reduces the tidal current.
– The disorder observed in the current for 4 to 5 days of each lunar month, during which the changes in the direction of the waters occur 12 to 14 times or the waters are stagnant for an hour or more.
The high speed of the current is explained as follows:
The tidal wave from the Mediterranean Sea enters the Euboean from the south and north towards the Evian Sea. The southern wave, because it travels a shorter distance, reaches the southern port of Chalkida sooner than the time it takes the northern wave to reach the corresponding port. As a result, the boredom times in the two ports do not coincide. Thus we have a maximum level in the southern port 3 hours and 45 minutes after the moon crosses the local meridian, and in the northern port after 5 hours and 30 minutes, which means that the southern port’s fullness is completed 1 hour and 45 minutes before the corresponding northern port. Because of this difference in level, and in accordance with the principle of communicating vessels, there is a movement of water from the southern port to the northern port, which stops when the water level is equal to that of the northern port, which gradually rise due to the gradual arrival of the northern wave, during which time the waters of the northern harbour, whose level has meanwhile exceeded that of the southern harbour, begin to move southwards. The irregular current, or ‘crazy waters’ as they are called, is explained as follows: During the squares, that is, during the last and first quarter of the moon, the lowest velocity of the current is observed, because the attraction of the moon on the liquid molecules of the sea is partially counteracted by the attraction of the sun, which acts in the opposite direction. In this case the winds blowing in the area repel the waters and pile them up at one end, and when the winds stop, they shift in the opposite direction and cause oscillations.
These oscillations, or ripples, as they are scientifically called, create a tidal wave which exceeds the weak tidal currents and thus we have irregular changes in the direction of the current. These oscillations were first observed by Aristotle, who was very interested in explaining the tidal phenomenon of Euripus.There is even a tradition that Aristotle committed suicide by falling into the waters of Euripus because he could not solve the problem, saying the famous “‘Epei oyk sechen Euripon ‘Aristotle, heheto Euripos ‘Aristotle'”. This is of course a myth, because Aristotle did die in Chalcis, but by natural death.
