Cyclades
Islands
: Amorgos, Andros,
Folegandros, Ios,
Kea, Kythnos,
Milos, Mykonos,
Naxos, Paros
and Antiparos, Santorini,
Sifnos, Serifos,
Sikinos, Syros,
Tinos
Northern
Aegean Islands:
Chios, Ikaria,
Limnos, Lesvos,
Samos, Samothraki,
Thassos
Ionian
Islands:
Corfu (Kerkyra), Ithaki,
Kefalonia, Kythera,
Lefkada, Paxos,
Zakynthos
Saronic
Islands:
Aegina, Angistri,
Poros, Hydra,
Salamina, Spetsis
Sporades
Islands:
Alonissos, Skiathos,
Skopelos, Skyros
Dodecanese
Islands:
Astypalia, Halki,
Kalymnos, Karpathos,
Kassos, Kastellorizo,
Kos, Leros,
Nisyros, Patmos,
Rhodes, Symi,
Tilos
Other
Islands:
Crete, Evia,
Cyprus
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Islands - Evia (Euboia, Evvoia, Negropont, Evvia, Macris,
Doliche, Ellopia, Abantis)
Evia, better known as Euboia, is the second largest island
in Greece after Crete; it’s
the Greek island the Greeks go to when they want to relax.
Visitors here can expect luxurious villas, refreshing
beauty, and excellent food and drink.
Its tavernas offer wine and ouzo, fresh food and Greek
specialities; and its treasures include fine museums as
well as natural treasures of beaches, forests, mountains,
and hot springs. It’s less than an hour’s
ferry ride from Athens, and
a pair of suspension bridges also links it to the mainland.
Evia was probably once part of the Greek
mainland, separated long ago by an earthquake. At
one point, the strait separating it from the Thessalian
coast is only one and half miles wide. In Chalcis,
where Agamemnon’s fleet set sail for Troy, the bays
are tight and confined, and it’s easy to believe
that contrary winds forced Agamemnon to sacrifice Clytemnestra’s
daughter in order to leave.
The principal cities of Evia are Chalcis and Eretria,
and these cities largely defined Evia’s history.
They were trading and exploring cities, and in fact the
Euboic scale of weights and measures they devised were
used in Athens for much of Greek history. But they were
rival cities, and they often fought bitterly. In 490 BC
Eretria was ruined, its citizens enslaved to Persia; though
it was re-established, it never regained its former supremacy.
Evia passed in succession through the hands of Athens,
the Macedonians, and the Persians before finally being
ruled by the Romans. At the time of the Fourth Crusade,
the island was divided into three fiefs and ruled over
by the Latins; rather than submit, the inhabitants threw
their fate into the hands of the Venetians, who ruled
until the Turks took the island from them.
Evia has excellent museums, including the Archaeological
Museums of Chalkis, Eretria, Karystos, and Skyros, the
Archaeological Collections of Edipsos and Potamia, and
the Folklore Museum of Kymi. It is also home to a number
of archaeological sites and ruins, including an imposing
amphitheater near the ancient site of Eretria. The Romans
largely destroyed it, but its remains are being restored.
Today, you can explore the terraces of the cavea, the
remains of the stage, and the underground passage that
leads to the center of the orchestra.
Evia is an excellent place to visit for those who want
to remain close enough to civilization to return easily,
but who also want to enjoy some of the rustic sights and
archaeological sites of Greece. Evia has everything you
want in a Greek vacation: the ruins, the beach, the crystal
waters, museums, tavernas, and atmosphere.
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