ABOUT EVIA
EVIA FOR ME
Evia just exists.... like other parts of Greece but more forgotten despite being the second biggest island in Greece and the one closest to Athens. The main reason is of course the lack of exposure for masstourism. Another reason is probably that it is so large that there is too much to know about it. It is not an economic hub, despite having significant agricultural production. It is also forgotten by most Greeks except that they all know that Chalkida has very good fish restaurants and that the therapeutic hot springs in Aidipsos are very ... Therapeutic. The infrastructure is poorly developed, the roads wind their way between mountains and valleys. If you drive from the north to the south, a distance that as the crow flies is 165 km, you have to count on more than 6 hours! Unless you get stuck behind a bus or truck on the serpentine roads in the mountains. A trip that is highly recommended! But take a few days because most certainly you want to stop to wade in the cold floodwaters of the Kirea River that the road follows a long distance in a fantastic valley. And stop for fresh fish in the quaint little town of Limni. And visit one of the fantastic beaches on the Aegean side in northern Evia...
Evia has been inhabited through the ages by Greeks, Turks and Albanians. In some villages, local dialects are still alive to the point that other Greeks have trouble understanding them. On the southernmost tip (quite close to Marmari) there is even a whistling language! The second know in the world. And how many people know that the Latin Alphabet evolved from colonizers from Evia in southern Italy (Euboean alphabet)? So in the same way that Evia is forgotten today, it seems to have always been on the side but ever-present.
SOUTH EVIA
Where I have ended up, certainly not by chance! The southern part of Evia is reminiscent on the west coast (towards the mainland) of the dry Cycladic Islands and on the east coast (towards the Aegean Sea) of the green lush Pelion! This despite the fact that the distance as the crow flies is no more than between 5 - 20 km! That's because the west coast is in rain shadow as the humid winds sweeping in from the Aegean Sea are forced up and drop their rain load on the east side! That's awesome! In half an hour you change the environment completely! On the west side gently rolling dry hills with lots of sheltered sandy beaches with crystal clear waters. On the east coast dramatic gorges, mountain massifs and river passages that flow onto beautiful beaches with softly sanded marble stone. Many of them are inaccessible from land and with a regular car you only reach a few. There are very few foreign tourists who find their way to southern Evia and there is no infrastructure for tourism.
The areas in the pictures below are 20 minutes drive from each other and they were both taken in July
Green gorges and mountain massifs in the area around Ag. Dimitrios southeast Evia.
Dry slopes around Karystos southwest Evia
from Wikipedia
FACTS ABOUT EVIA
Euboia (Εύβοια) Évvoia
Region Greek mainland
Capital town Chalkis (Chalkida)
Higest point Dirfys - 1 745 m
Population 202 724 (2009)'[1]'
Population density 55 pers/km²
Euboia (greek: Εύβοια, Évvoia, Évia, latinise Euboea, Eubea) is the second largest island in the Greek archipelago after Crete. It is separated from the Greek mainland by the Euboean Gulf. The island forms its own regional part (perifereiakí enótita), until 2010 a prefecture, which also includes two communities on the mainland, Anthidona and Avlida, as well as the nearby island of Skyros. The prefecture's population in 2009 amounted to 202,724 inhabitants.
Geography
Euboia is a long, narrow island with a length of 150 km and a width of 5–50 km that stretches from northwest to southeast. The main town on the island is called Chalkis.
The mountain ridge that runs along the length of Euboia forms part of the mountain range that begins in Thessaly and continues out into the Aegean Sea, forming the islands of Andros, Tinos and Mykonos. The highest mountains are Dirphys (1,745 m) and Pyxaria (1,341 m) in the northeast and Ochi (1,394 m).
The mountains contain iron and copper; on the east coast, near the town of Kyme, there is lignite and in the south of the island white, green-streaked marble (cipollin), which was much sought after by the Romans during the imperial period. The eastern coast is steep and rocky, the western more long-sloping, with beautiful forests and fertile plains, which in ancient times made Euboia the granary of Athens and still today yields plenty of grain, wine, oil, lemons and figs.
In the west, Euboia is separated from the mainland by the Gulf of Euboia. This is at its narrowest point (Euripos Sound at Chalkis) only 35 meters wide.[2]
History
In ancient times, Euboia was divided into several smaller, independent states, among which the rich trading cities of Eretria and Chalkis were the main ones. These founded, especially during the 7th century BC, colonies in Macedonia, in Italy and in Sicily. But in 506 BC Chalkis was taken by the Athenians, and in 490 BC Eretria was destroyed by the Persians, in revenge for the help it had given the Ionians in their rebellion. After the Persian Wars, Athens seized all of Euboia and kept it until about the middle of the 4th century BC, when "tyrants" under Macedonian protection seized several of the island's cities. After the Battle of Chaironeia in 338 BC. Euboia, along with the rest of Greece, came under Macedonian rule and lost its former prosperity. The island had passed through the hands of many owners before it was conquered by the Venetians in 1204, during the Fourth Crusade. In 1470, Euboia was captured by the Ottoman Empire and belonged to this until 1821, when it joined the other Greeks in their fight for freedom against the Turks. It was formally ceded to Greece by a treaty in 1830.