Chalcis

Chalcis, the capital of the Greek island of Eubœa, on the Euripus, a strait separating the island from Bœotia, and here only 120 feet wide. Chalcis is a place of very great antiquity, and it soon became a great trade centre, sending out colonies to Macedonia, where the peninsula of Chalcidice commemorated its name, as well as to Campania (Cumæ), South Italy, and Sicily. Successively Athenian, Macedonian, and Roman, it was a place of great military importance, nearly nine miles in circumference, and had many fine temples, theatres, and other public buildings. Aristotle died here. In the middle ages it was prosperous under the Venetians, who held it for nearly three centuries, until its conquest by the Turks in 1470. Pop. 9100.