Chalkís

Chalkis stands at the narrowest point of the Euripus Strait, where a bridge joins Euboea to the Greek mainland. In antiquity it was a prosperous city whose settlers founded communities as far away as Italy and Sicily. Later, Byzantine writers called it Euripos, while western merchants knew the town and island as Negroponte. Venice seized the town in 1209, and it became a center shared by the republic and Euboea's Latin lords. Its position drew repeated attacks: the Catalan Company struck in 1317 and Turkish forces in 1350–51. After a long siege the Ottomans captured Negroponte in 1470, making it the seat of their admiral of the archipelago. A Venetian attempt to retake it in 1688 failed.