240 Mamaloukos [2021] Ottoman Fortifications of Chalcis [IN ENGLISH - SUMMARY IN GREEK] By Stavros Mamaloukos

https://www.academia.edu/112275575/240_Mamaloukos_2021_Ottoman_Fortifications_of_Chalcis_IN_ENGLISH_SUMMARY_IN_GREEK_?sm=b&rhid=37229224815 Chalcis (Evripos, Negroponte, Egriboz), one of the most important cities in the south Balkan pen-insula during the Middle Ages, was captured by the Turks after a fierce siege in 1470. The unsuccessful siege of Chalcis by the Venetians in 1688 was one of the most important historical events of the city’s Ottoman period. In 1833 the city officially became part of the newly found Greek state. The Kastron, i.e. the fortified city of Chalcis of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Era, whose fortifications were largely demolished in the late 19th and early 20th century, was laid out in the shape of an elongated, irregular pentagon with maximum dimensions c. 400 x 700 m. that lay to the east of the Euripus Strait, and was surrounded by the sea on three sides. The other two sides of this pentagon were lined with a dry moat. Three gates, one on the Euripos Bridge, and two on the land walls allowed access to fortified city from Boeotia and the rest of the island of Euboea respectively. The fortifications of the Kastron, in the form that they survived into the 19th century, resembled an impressive, as well as complex and hard to read monumental compound, with distinct medieval phases, as well as critical alteration dating back to the period of Ottoman rule, the majority of which had been implemented in anticipation of the 1688 Venetian siege. The Fortress of Karambambas, on the steep hill by the same name on the Boeotian shore can also be dated to the same time period. Scope of the present paper is the study of the Ottoman phases of the fortifications. The study is based on the few surviving remnants and various old depictions and survey drawings of the fortifications as well as on the - up to now - limited archaeological research. ...