Euboea
Euboea, the second largest of the Aegean Islands, extends for some 180 km along
the east coast of mainland Greece. The length and geomorphology of the island
permits a natural division of Euboea into three distinct regions corresponding
to its three major mountain groups. The north, dominated by the peak of Mount
Pyxaria (1341 m), is heavily forested and has a climate and environment similar
to the Pelion Peninsula on the mainland immediately to the north. The broadest
and most fertile part of Euboea is the central region which contains relatively
large plains south of Mount Dhirfis (1745 m), the highest peak on the island.
Central Euboea lies closest to the mainland and is separated from it by only 40
m where the Euripos (Euboean Channel) narrows at Chalkis. The environment
closely resembles those of Boeotia and Attica, with the exception that there is
more rainfall on the eastern side of the island. The narrowest part of Euboea
(in places less than 10 km) is the stretch of land between Dystos and Styra,
which joins the central and southern portions of the island. Southern Euboea,
with Mount Ochi (1394 m) at its center, is mountainous and sparsely inhabited.
The region lies at a greater distance from the mainland and is subject to a
maritime climatic influence. Southern Euboea is geophysically and
environmentally distinct from the rest of the island and its climate corresponds
with that of the northern Cycladic Islands.
History
The natural division of Euboea has been paralleled throughout history by the
socio-cultural divisions of the island. Each region is represented by a major
town (Histiaia-Oreos in the north, Chalkis in the center, and Karystos in the
south) which has preserved its importance from the first mention in the Homeric
Catalogue of Ships down to modern times. This tripartite cultural division of
the island is first reflected in the prehistoric settlement of the island by the
semi-legendary tribes of the Ellopians in the north, the Abantes in the center,
and the Dryopians in the south. In historical antiquity Chalkis and Eretria
contested the fertile Lelantine Plain, located between the two cities and the
commercial and colonizing role afforded by their locations at the center of the
Euripos. Although leaders in the colonizing period of Greek history, the city
states of Euboea later became politically subject to Athens and then to
Macedonia.