Chalkida, the metropolis of Euboea, has played a leading role in the course of the island’s history.
It has always been a city of progress and development and a permanent source of debate among the various invadors. In regard to the origin of the city’s name there are three major scientific proposals: The first links its name to the bronze (= chalkos) mines, the second to the daughter called Chalkida of the Assopos river and the third to chalki or kalki, the porphyritic shell traded by the Phoenicians to the city of Chalkida. The literary sources along with the excavational finds make up a picture of the city which continues to thrive as late as the early Roman period.
