Chalcis (aka Chalkida), the capital of the island of Euboea, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point, today is a city of about 60.000 inhabitants.

The earliest recorded mention of Chalcis is in the Iliad. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC, settlers from Chalkis founded cities in southern Italy and Sicily, amongst other places. The city reached the height of its importance during the Archaic period, when it was one of the most significant trading centres in the whole of Hellas. Its main economic activities were fishing for purple snails and metalworking.

In 506 BC, the city came under Athenian control. Despite the tensions, Chalkis supported the alliance during the Persian Wars. Chalkis was forced to join the Attic League, but repeatedly attempted, without success, to rebel against Athens. From 338 BC onwards, Philip II of Macedonia controlled the city. Owing to its strategic location on the Euripus, the Macedonians developed Chalkis into a stronghold.

In 146 BC, the city fell to the Roman Empire and lost much of its political significance. Under the Eastern Roman Empire, the city gradually recovered.

The Triarchy of Negroponte was a Crusader state founded on the island of Euboea (Venetian: Negroponte) following the partition of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade. Euboea was granted to Boniface of Montferrat, King of Thessaloniki. Boniface, in turn, ceded the island as a fief to the Flemish nobleman Jacques II of Avesnes. Euboea subsequently came under the influence of Venice. From around 1390, the island became a regular Venetian colony known as the ‘Reame di Negroponte’.

Negroponte played a significant role in the history of Frankish Greece, but Chalkis was finally captured by the Ottoman Empire after a long siege in 1470. Under Turkish rule, the town became a fortified stronghold and an important naval base.

Since 1833, Chalkis has been part of the newly founded, independent Greek state.