During the Palaeolithic period, there were inhabitants in Euboea as archeologists have found primitive stones on the island. There were three types of races at the time; in the northn there were Thessalian races, called Curetes and Abantes. Meanwhile the southern part was occupied by the Dryopes. Then, around 1200 BC, there was a increase in population. It is believed that one city, called Eretria, could have made ships that were used in the siege of Troy, if Homer’s Iliad can be relied on. The two main cities in the island, Eretria and Chalkis are believed to compete over trade routes and power. They have been engaged in a war around 9 th century, which was one of the sea fights in Greece.

 

When the Romans invaded, Eretria and Chalkis were captured and much was destroyed. In the outskirts of Histiaea, which was badly destroyed by the Romans and settled by Athenian colonists, there remains a large open-air ancient theater underground. During the Macedonian wars, these cities again were destroyed by the Romans. Then in the 4 th century, Byzantine Constantinople took control of the island. In 1 st century A.D., the king of the Black Sea, called Mithridates, occupied the island while he battled nearby islands. After Constantinople fell, Euboea was invaded by three Lombard noblemen who named the city, kingdom of Negreponte, which means “Black Point.” It was at this time that Euboea became a flourishing city of commercial trade.    

 

In the 13 th century, the city was taken over by Venetians; hence, today one can visit the vestiges of this colonization, such as various towers. During Ottoman times, Euboea underwent much tension and hardship. In 1470, the whole island fell to the Turks. Much of the population was forced into slavery. Chalkis was turned into a Turkish military fortress. Even when Southern Greece was released from Turkish force in 1828 after the Greek War of Independence, Euboea remained occupied for another century. In 1930, it was officially made Greek land.

 

When Euboea became a Greek country, the lifestyle of its people began to improve. Connected to Athens by railroad and easily accessible via ferry, it developed industrial plants and began to grow in terms of tourism.