View source for Amarynthos

{{Infobox Greek Dimos
|name               = Amarynthos
|name_local         = Αμάρυνθος
|type = municipal unit
|image_map = DE Amarynthion.svg 
|image_skyline      = Αμάρυνθος 0493.jpg
|caption_skyline    = Aerial view of Amarynthos
|city_flag          = 
|city_seal          = 
|coordinates        = {{coord|38.3870|N|23.9091|E|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_min      = 
|elevation_max      = 
|map_caption = Location within the regional unit
| periph = [[Central Greece (administrative region)|Central Greece]]
| periphunit         = [[Euboea (regional unit)|Euboea]]
|municipality = [[Eretria]]
|districts          = 5
|population_as_of   = 2021
|pop_municunit      = 6085
|area_municunit     = 109.909
|pop_community      = 3368
|postal_code        = 340 06
|area_code          = 22290
|licence            = ΧΑ
|website            = 
}}
'''Amarynthos''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Αμάρυνθος, {{IPA|el|aˈmarinθos|}}, also called Βάθεια ''Váthia''), is a coastal town and a former municipality in [[Euboea]], [[Greece]]. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality [[Eretria]], of which it is a municipal unit.<ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL81-32jgAMSfbnMRVjyfnPUeJInJ48_97uHrMts-zFzeyCiBSQOpYnT00MHhcXFRTsb2fGphpq4MKX2ZkaHobySNnvZCNHXvYVvlf80XevW0Q.|title=ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref> The municipal unit has an area of 109.909&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archivedate=2015-09-21 }}</ref> Amarynthos is 8&nbsp;km east of [[Eretria]], 27&nbsp;km southeast of [[Chalcis]], 63&nbsp;km northwest of [[Karystos]] and 10&nbsp;km north of [[Kalamos, Attica|Kalamos]], across the gulf. The [[Greek National Road 44]] ([[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] - Chalcis - Karystos) passes through the town.

==History==
The area of Amarynthos, along with the region of [[Eretria]], has a long and rich history. Many scientists place Eretria of the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean period]] in the location of the present town of Amarynthos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evia.gr/modules/naevias/tourist_guide/english_guide/central_evia_eretria-amarinthos.html |title=Eretria-Amarynthos |publisher=Euboea Prefecture official web site |accessdate=2008-04-13 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310224306/http://www.evia.gr/modules/naevias/tourist_guide/english_guide/central_evia_eretria-amarinthos.html |archivedate=March 10, 2008 }}</ref> The archaeological artifacts testify a permanent settlement in this location since the Late [[Neolithic]] period, around [[30th century BC|3000 BC]], which was one of the most important [[Helladic period|Helladic]] settlements and a significant port on the island of Euboea, during the Early [[Bronze Age]]. It had built its own trade with the [[Aegean Islands]], concluded from the findings of [[Cycladic art]] in the region.

During the Middle [[Helladic period]], Amarynthos had developed its trade with mainland [[Greece]] and produced magnificent pieces of the [[Minyans|Minyean]] art, while in the Late Helladic period it was one of the main areas of Euboea. During the [[2nd millennium BC]], the [[Ionians]] arrived in the southern parts of Greece and settled Euboea, while the name of Amarynthos is mentioned in [[clay tablet]]s with inscriptions in the [[Linear B]] script. Apart from the trade, the locals also occupied with agriculture, pastoralism, fishing and copper processing.

In [[Ancient Greece|ancient times]], there was a festival in Amarynthos called "[[Amarysia (festival)|Amarynthia]]",<ref>[[Harry Thurston Peck]], ''[[Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities]] (1898)'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062;query=id%3D%23859;layout=;loc=amaranthus online] at perseus</ref> dedicated to Amarysia [[Artemis]], who was worshipped as the patron goddess of Amarynthos and whose shrine was located in the plain of the region, being one of the most important in [[Central Greece (geographic region)|Central Greece]].<ref name=theoi>{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Cult/ArtemisCult3.html |title=Artemis cult 3 |publisher=Theoi Greek Mythology |accessdate=2008-04-16| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080401141153/http://www.theoi.com/Cult/ArtemisCult3.html| archivedate= 1 April 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> Parts of it were excavated between 1987 and 1992, hosted now at the Museum of Eretria. In [[Greek mythology]], Amarynthos was a man from Eretria who usually ran after Artemis because of his love for her, and his name was given to the town. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] in his ''Description of Greece'', mentions, along with Amarynthos, a town in [[Attica]] called [[Athmonia]], where the [[Athens|Athenians]] also celebrated Amarysia Artemis in a festival as splendid as the one in Amarynthos ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+1.31.5 1.31.5]). [[Callimachus]] says that in Amarynthos, Artemis was worshipped as hornless (kolainis), because [[Agamemnon]] sacrificed to her a hornless ram made of wax, while [[Claudius Aelianus]] refers to the Eretrians who maimed animals to Artemis at Amarynthos.<ref name=theoi/> [[Strabo]], in the ''[[Geographica]]'', locates the village of Amarynthos seven stadia distant from the walls of Eretria, to which the village belongs ([https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/10A*.html#1.10 10.1.10]). In 2024, during an excavation at the Artemis Amarynthos sanctuary, archaeologists discovered evidence of animal sacrifices, such as hearths, altars and layers of ash with calcined animal bones.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Milligan |first=Mark |date=2024-01-09 |title=Excavation of Artemis temple reveals evidence of animal sacrifices |url=https://www.heritagedaily.com/2024/01/excavation-of-artemis-temple-reveals-evidence-of-animal-sacrifices/150230 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=HeritageDaily - Archaeology News |language=en-US}}</ref>

Amarynthos, like the whole of Euboea, was later ruled by the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonians]], the [[Roman Empire|Romans]], the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] and the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] until it joined the modern Greek state around 1830. After the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–22)]] and the [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]], the arrival of Greek refugees from [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]] in Euboea, many of which settled in Amarynthos, boosted the population of the town. In World War II, the [[Nazi Germany]]'s troops burnt parts of the town.

==Geography==
The municipal unit Amarynthos is located in Central Euboea and stretches from the coast of the [[South Euboean Gulf]] into the mountainous inland. The area near the coast, around the town Amarynthos, is relatively flat and consists of farmlands. The Euboean [[Olympus (Euboea)|Olympus]] overlooks the town, situated 10&nbsp;km north of it. Amarynthos has a beach and several hotels, restaurants, bars and taverns can be found in the town. Amarynthos has several schools and shops, while the nearest hospital is in Chalcis.

==Culture==
[[File:P1160209 ΑΜΑΡΥΝΘΟΣ.jpg|thumb|The byzantine church of Theotokos]]
Worth visiting in Amarynthos are the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] churches of "Koimisi tis Theotokou" (κοίμηση της Θεοτόκου), "Metamorphosi tou Sotiros" (μεταμόρφωση του Σωτήρος) and "Zoodochos Pigi" (Ζωοδόχος πηγή), while to the northeast of the town there is the Byzantine monastery of "Agios Nikolaos" (άγιος Νικόλαος), with wall paintings of the 12th century. A [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] tomb dating from the 4th century BC has been excavated in 1897 one kilometre outside of Amarynthos in a location called Vlychos. There is a 14th-century church named "Panagitsa" (Παναγίτσα) close to Ano Vatheia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.holidayshop.gr/contentsEn.asp?ElementId=2541 |title=Amarynthos |publisher=www.holidayshop.gr |accessdate=2008-04-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051201062624/http://www.holidayshop.gr/contentsEn.asp?ElementId=2541 |archivedate=2005-12-01 }}</ref> Many new ancient monuments are revealed every year thanks to the excavations of the [[Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece|Swiss School of Archeology]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece |url=https://www.esag.swiss/ |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=ESAG |language=fr}}</ref>

==Subdivisions==
The municipal unit Amarynthos is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
*Amarynthos (Amarynthos, Galazia Nera)
*Ano Vatheia (Ano Vatheia, Koukaki)
*Gymno (Gymno, Metamorfosi)
*Kallithea
*[[Seta, Greece|Seta]] (Seta, Kato Seta)

==Historical population==
{| class=wikitable
! Year !! Town population !! Municipal unit population 
|-
| align="left"| 1981 || 3,309 || - 
|-
| align="left"| 1991 || 3,638 || 6,068 
|-
| align="left"| 2001 || 4,141 || 7,356 
|-
| align="left"| 2011 || 3,672 || 6,723
|-
| align="left"| 2021 || 3,368 || 6,085
|}

==References==

===Notes===
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.amarynthos.gr/ Official Website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131226064728/http://www.naevias.gr/ Euboea prefectural council]
*[http://www.greek-tourism.com/evoia/amarynthos.htm Greek Tourism]
*[http://www.e-city.gr/evia/home/view/3201.php Amarynthos at e-city.gr] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080716011920/http://www.e-city.gr/evia/home/view/3201.php |date=2008-07-16 }}

{{Geographic location 
|Centre = Amarynthos
|North = [[Kymi, Greece|Kymi]]
|Northeast = [[Konistres]]
|East = [[Taminaioi]]
|Southeast =
|South = ''[[South Euboean Gulf]]''
|Southwest = 
|West = [[Eretria]]
|Northwest = [[Dirfys]]
|image =     
}}

{{Subdivisions of the municipality of Eretria}}

[[Category:Populated places in Euboea]]
[[Category:Eretria]]
[[Category:Cities in ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Ancient Euboea]]