Euboea

Εύβοια
View of Chalkis
Geography
Coordinates	38°30′N 24°00′E / 38.5°N 24°E / 38.5; 24
Archipelago	Aegean Islands
Area	3,684.848 km2 (1,422.7278 sq mi)
Highest elevation	1,745 m (5,725 ft)
Highest point	Mt. Dirphys
Country
Greece
Region	Central Greece
Regional unit	Euboea
Capital city	Chalcis
Demographics
Population	198130 (as of 2001)
Density	54 /km2 (140 /sq mi)
Additional information
Official website	www.naevias.gr

Euboea^[1] (Greek: Εύβοια, Évia; Ancient Greek: Εὔβοια, Eúboia) is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about 150 kilometres (93 mi) long, and varies in breadth from 50 kilometres (31 mi) to 6 kilometres (3.7 mi). Its general direction is from northwest to southeast, and it is traversed throughout its length by a mountain range, which forms part of the chain that bounds Thessaly on the east, and is continued south of Euboea in the lofty islands of Andros, Tinos and Mykonos.

Geography[link]

Satellite picture showing central and south-eastern Euboea on the right, and the Greek mainland (Attica and Boeotia) on the left. Orientation: north approximately uppermost.

Like most of the Greek islands, Euboea was originally known under other names in ancient times, such as Macris and Doliche from its shape, Ellopia and Abantis from the tribes inhabiting it.

Euboea was believed to have originally formed part of the mainland, and to have been separated from it by an earthquake. This is fairly probable, because it lies in the neighbourhood of a fault line, and both Thucydides and Strabo write that the northern part of the island had been shaken at different periods. In the neighbourhood of Chalcis, both to the north and the south, the bays are so confined as to make plausible the story of Agamemnon's fleet having been detained there by contrary winds. At Chalcis itself, where the strait is narrowest at only 40 m, it is called the Euripus Strait. The extraordinary changes of tide which take place in this passage have been a subject of note since classical times. At one moment the current runs like a river in one direction, and shortly afterwards with equal velocity in the other. A bridge was first constructed here in the twenty-first year of the Peloponnesian War (410 BC). The name Euripus developed during the Middle Ages into Evripo and Egripo, and in this latter form transferred to the whole island. Later the Venetians, when they occupied the district, altered it to Negroponte, referring to the bridge which connected it with the mainland.

The main mountains include Dirphys (1,745 m), Pyxaria (1,341 m) in the northeast and Ochi (1,394). The neighboring gulfs are the Pagasetic Gulf in the north, Malian Gulf, North Euboean Gulf in the west, the Euboic Sea and the Petalion Gulf. At the 2001 census the island had a population of 198,130, and a total land area of 3,684.848 km².

History[link]

Ancient[link]

Beach at Chiliadou in Euboea.

The history of the island of Euboea is largely that of its two principal cities, Chalcis and Eretria. Both cities were settled by Ionian Greeks from Attica, and would eventually settle numerous colonies in Magna Graecia and Sicily, such as Cumae and Rhegium, and on the coast of Macedonia. This opened new trade routes to the Greeks, and extended the reach of western civilization.^[2] The commercial influence of these city-states is evident in the fact that the Euboic scale of weights and measures was used among the Ionic cities generally, and in Athens until the end of the 7th century BC, during the time of Solon^{[citation needed]}.

Chalcis and Eretria were rival cities, and appear to have been equally powerful for a while. One of the earliest of the sea battles mentioned in Greek history took place between them, and it is also said^[who?] that many of the other Greek states took part.^{[citation needed]} In 490 BC, Eretria was utterly ruined and its inhabitants were transported to Persia^{[clarification needed]}. Though it was restored nearby its original site after the Battle of Marathon, the city never regained its former eminence.

Both cities gradually lost influence to Athens, which saw Euboea as a strategic territory. Euboea was an important source of grain and cattle, and controlling the island meant Athens could prevent invasion and better protect its trade routes from piracy.

Athens invaded Chalcis in 506 BC and settled 4,000 Attic Greeks on their lands. After this conflict, the whole of the island was gradually reduced to an Athenian dependency.^{[citation needed]} Another struggle between Euboea and Athens broke out in 446. Led by Pericles, the Athenians subdued the revolt, and captured Histiaea in the north of the island for their own settlement.

By 410 BC, the island succeeded in regaining its independence. Euboea participated in Greek affairs until falling under the control of Philip II of Macedon after the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, and eventually being incorporated into the Roman Republic in the second century BC.

Medieval[link]

In 1157 all the coastal towns of Euboea were destroyed by a Sicilian force.^[3]

In the Middle Ages, Euboea came into prominence following the Fourth Crusade. In the partition of the Byzantine Empire by the crusaders, the island was occupied by a number of Lombard families, who divided it into three (later six) baronies. The island's rulers came early on under the influence of the Venetian Republic, which secured control of the island's commerce in the War of the Euboeote Succession and gradually expanded its control, until they acquired full sovereignty by 1390. On 12 July 1470, during the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1463–1479 and after a protracted and bloody siege, the well-fortified city of Negropont (Chalkis) was wrested from Venice by Mehmed II and the whole island fell into the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Although the name Negropont remained current in European languages until the 19th century, the Turks themselves renamed the city and the island Eğriboz or Ağriboz from their word for the Euripus Strait. Under Ottoman rule, Ağriboz was the seat of a sanjak.

At the conclusion of the Greek War of Independence in 1830, the island constituted a part of the newly-established independent Greek kingdom.

Modern[link]

View from Kandili mountain

Euboea is linked to the mainland by two bridges, one that runs through Chalkis and is also accessible from Thebes, and another which bypasses Chalcis and is accessed from Athens. All of Euboea's modern bridges are suspended.

In the 1980s, the Dystos lake was filled with grass which was set on fire by farmers to make more farmland. This act caused devastation of much of the plants and the environment in that area.^{[citation needed]} A part of the lake later regenerated. Also the municipalities of Anthidona and Avlida in the mid to late 20th century, which once were part of the eastern part of the Boeotia Prefecture, reverted to Chalkis.^{[citation needed]} Since then, the postal codes corresponded with the rest of Euboea, including Skyros.

Recent[link]

View of mainland Greece from Kandili mountain.

On January 24 through January 28, 2006, a snowstorm which also affected Eastern Europe brought heavy snowfalls with snow accumulating to heights ranging from 1 to 4 metres (3.3 to 13 ft), cutting off roads from the rest of Greece in the northern, eastern and southern parts of the island. Electricity was cut off to parts of the island for several days. Two days later when the snowstorm tapered off, villages in the south and north remained cut off from roads and water supply. Communications were later restored as bulldozers cleared away the snow as far as Aliveri a day later. The snowstorm became one of the worst in the island's history. Another system arrived on February 7, 2005 and brought heavy snows that isolated several residents in their homes with 3 to 5 metres (9.8 to 16 ft) of snow, enough to reach upper balconies and almost cover homes in snow over their roofs in several villages. In Kampia, snowfall of up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) covered people's cars, and some people had to dig away the snow to get into their vehicles. Roads were also blocked and some locations were cut off from the rest of the island. The storm did not cause blackouts. A day later, temperatures began to rise and roads were re-opened and communications restored.^{[citation needed]}

Another natural disaster was the forest fire that occurred in the Aliveri part of the island, fires lasted in July 2007 and devastated much of the forests including the vicinity of the hotel and devastated the tourist industry of the island. Fires battled for a few days until the situation ended completely. Hundreds of buildings were damaged.^{[citation needed]}.

Demographics[link]

The population of the island according to the census of 2001 was 198,130, making it the second most populous island of Greece. As a whole the Euboeans share a cultural identity similar to that of the people in the rest of Central Greece and they speak a southern variety of Greek. In the southern part of the island there are Arvanite communities, with the area south of Aliveri being the northernmost limit of their presence in Euboea. Sarakatsani and Vlachs could be found mainly in the mountainous areas in central and northern Euboea respectively, but nowadays they have abandoned the nomadic way of life and live permanently in the towns and villages across the island.

Economics[link]

The mining areas include magnesite in Mantoudi and Limni, lignite in Aliveri and iron and nickel from Dirfys. Marble is mined 3 km north of Eretria which include Marmor Chalcidicum and asbestos in the northeastern part of Carystus in the Okhi mountain. The trees include chestnuts.

Chalkida Bridge connecting the island with the mainland Greece.

Transport[link]

• Greek National Road 44, Cen., S, SE
• Greek National Road 77 NW, N, W, Cen.

Local administration[link]

The island belongs to Euboea Prefecture which also includes two municipalities on the mainland, Anthidona and Avlida, as well as the island municipality of Skyros. At the 2001 census the prefecture had a population of 215,136 inhabitants, whereas the island itself had a population of 198,130. The prefecture's land area is 4,167.449 km², whereas the total land area of the municipalities actually on the island is 3,684.848 km², which includes that of numerous small offshore islets (Petalion Islands) near Euboea's southeastern tip.

Notable people[link]

• Konstantinos Kallias (9 July 1901- 7 April 2004), politician
• Georgios Papanikolaou (1883–1962) physician, a pioneer in cytology and early cancer detection
• Giannis Skarimpas, writer
• Nikolaos Kriezotis, leader of the Greek Revolution in Euboea
• St. David of Euboea, 16th Century Saint (from the village of Gardinitsa) who built a church dedicated to the Transfiguration
• Elder Porphyrios, Holy Father of the Orthodox Church
• Elder Iakovos, Spiritual Father of St. David's Monastery in Euboea

Sporting teams[link]

• Football: Khalkis-Lilas - Chalkida, third division
• Basketball: Chalkida BC - Chalkida, Greek A2 League

See also[link]

• List of settlements in the Euboea regional unit
• List of traditional Greek place names

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2008)

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Euboea

• Official site - English version
• Photos from Euboea, Evoia

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Coordinates: 38°30′N 24°00′E / 38.5°N 24°E / 38.5; 24

Eduard Marian Ilie (born 29 June 1986 in Bucharest),^[1] better known as Edward Maya, is a Romanian musician, producer, performer, and composer. He graduated from George Enescu Music High School in Bucharest and is currently a final year student at the Bucharest Conservatory.

Career[link]

In and around 2006, Maya worked with many Romanian artists such as Akcent, Vika Jigulina, Blaxy Girls, DJ Sava, DJ Rynno and Liviu Hodor. He worked also on the song Tornerò, which was performed by Mihai Trăistariu in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. He added in an interview on Beat-Town.com that this song "was the beginning of my career"^[2]

In the summer of 2009, Maya launched his first song as an artist, "Stereo Love", reaching number 2 in the Romanian singles charts. Later that year, "Stereo Love" became a hit in clubs all over the world.^[3] While this success was followed by concerts worldwide, the song entered the top-5 singles charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK.^[4][5][6][7] "Stereo Love" has received over 173 million YouTube views since August 2009, for just one video.^[8]

On May 13, 2010, Maya released his second single "This Is My Life". To help maintain control of his career and provide opportunities for other artists, Maya has formed his own record label, Mayavin Records.^[9]

Maya released the song and video for his third single "Desert Rain" on Christmas night worldwide.^[10] In an interview Edward Maya talked about his Desert Rain tour he mentions he'll start off with India and later he will be touring Europe, US, South Africa and Pakistan.^[11]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Other singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Saint David
19th century stained glass window in Jesus College Chapel, Oxford.
Bishop
Born	date unknown, c.500 Caerfai, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Died	1 March, c.589 St David's, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Honored in	Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Orthodox Church
Major shrine	St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales shrine largely extant, controversial bones in casket
Feast	1 March
Attributes	bishop with a dove, usually on his shoulder, sometimes standing on a raised hillock
Patronage	Wales; Pembrokeshire; vegetarians; poets
Controversy	The earliest of the supposed bones of Saint David and Saint Justinian housed in a casket in the Holy Trinity Chapel of St David's Cathedral have been carbon-dated to the 12th century.

Saint David (c. 500–589) (Welsh: Dewi Sant) was a Welsh Bishop during the 6th century; he was later regarded as a saint and as the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and a relatively large amount of information is known about his life. However, his birth date is still uncertain, as suggestions range from 462 to 512. The Annales Cambriae has his death at 601, which would move his birth date forward.^[1]

Monasticism[link]

Many of the traditional tales about David are found in the Buchedd Dewi, a hagiography written by Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century. Rhygyfarch claimed it was based on documents found in the cathedral archives. Modern historians are sceptical of some of its claims: one of Rhygyfarch's aims was to establish some independence for the Welsh church, which had refused the Roman rite until the 8th century and now, following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, was to seek a metropolitan status equal to that of Canterbury.

He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales, Dumnonia and Brittany in a period when neighbouring tribal regions (that were to be overrun by Anglo-Saxon or Frankish tribes over the following three hundred years) were still mostly pagan.^{[citation needed]} He rose to a bishopric and presided over two synods as well as going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem (where he was anointed as an archbishop by the Patriarch) and Rome. St David's Cathedral stands on the site of the monastery he founded in the 'Glyn Rhosyn' valley in Pembrokeshire.

The Monastic Rule of David prescribed that monks had to pull the plough themselves without draught animals, must drink only water eat only bread with salt and herbs and spend the evenings in prayer, reading and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: even to say "my book" was considered an offence. He lived a simple life and practiced asceticism, teaching his followers to refrain from eating meat or drinking beer. His symbol, also the symbol of Wales, is the leek (this is questioned by some authorities and largely comes from reference in Shakespeare's Henry V, VI 1). His emblem is a dove.

St. David as teacher of
St. Finnian in a stained glass window at Clonard

His best-known miracle is said to have taken place when he was preaching in the middle of a large crowd at the Synod of Brefi: the village of Llanddewi Brefi is said to stand on the spot where the miracle occurred. When those at the back complained that they could not see or hear him the ground on which he stood is reputed to have risen up to form a small hill so that everyone had a good view. A white dove was seen settling on his shoulder — a sign of God's grace and blessing. John Davies notes that one can scarcely "conceive of any miracle more superfluous" in that part of Wales than the creation of a new hill.^[2] It is significant that David is said to have denounced Pelagianism during this incident and that he was anointed archbishop by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, a position confirmed at the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi by popular acclaim according to Rhygyfarch.^[3] The claim of St David's Metropolitan Status as an archbishopric (and thus of the same status as Canterbury) was later supported by Bernard, Bishop of St David's, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald of Wales.

Connections to Glastonbury[link]

Rhygyfarch stated that Glastonbury Abbey was amongst the many churches David founded.^[4] Around forty years later William of Malmesbury believing the Abbey was older than this, said that David visited Glastonbury intending only to rededicate the Abbey, as well as to donate a travelling altar including a great sapphire. He had a vision of Jesus, who said that "the church had been dedicated long ago by Himself in honour of His Mother, and it was not seemly that it should be re-dedicated by human hands". So David instead commissioned an extension to be built to the abbey, east of the Old Church. (The dimensions of this extension given by William were verified archaeologically in 1921). One manuscript indicates that a sapphire altar was among the items King Henry VIII confiscated from the abbey at its dissolution a thousand years later. There are unverifiable indications that the sapphire may now be among the Crown Jewels.

Death[link]

The Shrine of Saint David,
St David's Cathedral.

The Flag of Saint David.

St David's Cathedral,
built in its present form 1181
at St David's, Pembrokeshire

It is claimed that David lived for over 100 years, and he died on a Tuesday 1 March (now St David's Day). It is generally accepted that this was around 590, making the actual year 589. The monastery is said to have been 'filled with angels as Christ received his soul.' His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. Rhygyfarch transcribes these as 'Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.' 'Do the little things in life' ('Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd') is today a very well known phrase in Welsh.

David was buried at St David's Cathedral at St David's, Pembrokeshire, where his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. During the 10th and 11th centuries the Cathedral was regularly raided by Vikings who removed the shrine from the church and stripped off the precious metal adornments. In 1275 a new shrine was constructed, the ruined base of which remains to this day (see photo), which was originally surmounted by an ornamental wooden canopy with murals of St David, St Patrick and St Denis of France. The relics of St David and St Justinian were kept in a portable casket on the stone base of the shrine. It was at this shrine that Edward I came to pray in 1284. During the reformation Bishop Barlow (1536–48), a staunch Protestant, stripped the shrine of its jewels and confiscated the relics of David and Justinian.

Reputation[link]

David's popularity in Wales is shown by the Armes Prydein Fawr c.930, a popular prophetic poem in which the poet prophesied that in the future, when all might seem lost, the Cymry (the Welsh people) would unite behind the standard of David to defeat the English; A lluman glân Dewi a ddyrchafant ("And they will raise the pure banner of Dewi").

Unlike many contemporary 'saints' of Wales, David was officially recognised by the Vatican by Pope Callixtus II in 1120, thanks to the work of Bernard, Bishop of St David's. Music for his office has been edited by O.T. Edwards in Matins, Lauds and Vespers for St David’s Day: the Medieval Office of the Welsh Patron Saint in National Library of Wales MS 20541 E (Cambridge, 1990)

David's life and teachings have inspired a choral work by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, Dewi Sant. It is a seven-movement work that is best known for the classical crossover series Adiemus, which intersperses movements reflecting the themes of David's last sermon with those drawing from three Psalms. An oratorio by another Welsh composer Arwel Hughes, also entitled Dewi Sant, was composed in 1950.

Saint David is also thought to be associated with corpse candles, lights that would warn of the imminent death of a member of the community. The story goes that David prayed for his people to have some warning of their death, so that they could prepare themselves. In a vision, David's wish was granted and told that from then on, people who lived in the land of Dewi Sant (Saint David) "would be forewarned by the dim light of mysterious tapers when and where the death might be expected." The color and/or size of the tapers indicated whether the person to die would be a woman, man, or child.^[5]

Roman Martyrology[link]

In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, David is listed under 1 March with the Latin name Dávidis. He is recognised as bishop of Menevia in Wales who governed his monastery following the example of the Eastern Fathers. Through his leadership, many monks went forth to evangelise Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Armorica (Brittany and surrounding provinces).^[6]

See also[link]

• St David's Cathedral
• St David's Day
• Corpse Candles

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae (Latin), ed. Arthur W. Wade-Evans. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1944.
• St. David the Briton, in St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury Or the Apostolic Church of Britain by Lionel Smithett Lewis, page 198
• St. David's Day section of Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain: chiefly chiefly illustrating the origin of our vulgar customs, ceremonies and superstitions, Volume 1 (Google Books facsimile) by John Brand, page 102
• St. David's Day section of Observations on popular antiquities, chiefly illustrating the origin of our vulgar customs, ceremonies and superstitions : Arranged and rev., with additions, Volume 1 (ASCII text) by John Brand

External links[link]

• St David — patron saint of Wales
• Saints SQPN.com » Saint David of Wales