Editing Chalcis (section)

== Main sights ==
The church of [[Paraskevi of Rome|Saint Paraskevi]] (the [[patron saint]] of [[Euboea|the island]]) was the church of the Dominican Priory of Negroponte, one of the first two houses authorized for the Order of Preachers' Province of Greece in 1249. Started about 1250, this is among the oldest examples of early Dominican architecture surviving, and is one of the only early Dominican churches to retain its original form until the present.<ref>Nikolaus Delinikolaos and Vasiliki Vemi, "Αγία Παρασκευή Χαλκίδας. Ένα βενετικό πρόγραμμα ανοικοδόμησης του 13ο αιώνα."  in Chryssa Maltezou and  Christina E. Papakosta eds., ''Venezia-Eubea, Da Egripos a Negroponte'', 2006, 229-266, at pages 248—49.</ref><ref>Pierre MacKay, "St. Mary of the Dominicans: The Monastery of the Fratres Praedicatores in Negropont." in Chryssa Maltezou and  Papakosta eds., ''Venezia-Eubea,'' 125-156.</ref> The central arch over the iconostasis and the ceiling and walls of the south chapel are the best examples of Italian Gothic stone-carving in Greece.<ref>[[Ramsay Traquair (architect)|Ramsay Traquair]], "Frankish Architecture in Greece," ''Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects Third Series,'' 31, (1923—24) 42—48, fig. 13 ("Italian Gothic", p. 47).</ref> Images of the Dominican saints, Dominic and Peter Martyr, stand at the base of the central arch.<ref>The two first Dominican saints can just be made out at the base of the arch in a photograph in Beata Panagopoulos, ''Cistercian and Mendicant Monasteries in Mediaeval Greece.'' Chicago, 1979, plate 105, p. 133, but not with any detail.</ref> The north chapel holds the tomb of the founder of the senatorial Lippamano family of Venice.  Some of the column capitals are Byzantine.

===The bridges===
[[File:Bridge of Chalcis, Euboea (3).JPG|thumb|The Chalcis' Bridge connecting the island with the mainland of [[Greece]].]]

The town is now connected to mainland Greece by two bridges, the "Sliding Bridge" in the west at the narrowest point of the [[Euripus Strait]] and a suspension bridge.

The [[Euripus Strait]] which separates the city and the island from the mainland was bridged in 411 BC with a wooden bridge. In the time of [[Justinian]] the fixed bridge was replaced with a movable structure. The Turks replaced this once again with a fixed bridge. In 1856, a wooden swing bridge was built; in 1896, an iron swing bridge, and in 1962, the existing "sliding bridge"; the construction works of the 19th century destroyed the most part of the medieval castle built across the bridge. The [[Euripus Bridge]] or Chalcis Bridge, a cable-stayed suspension bridge opened in 1993, joins Chalcis to the mainland to the south.

A special tidal phenomenon takes place in the strait, as strong tidal currents reverse direction once every six hours, creating strong currents and maelstroms.<ref name=EuripusStraits>{{cite journal | url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1929AN....236..321E | title=The problem of the tide of Euripus | author=Eginitis, D. | journal=Astronomische Nachrichten | year=1929 | volume=236 | pages=321–328|bibcode = 1929AN....236..321E | doi=10.1002/asna.19292361904 | issue=19–20 }} See also the commentary about this explanation in {{cite journal | title=Les marées de l'Euripe | author=Lagrange, E. | journal=Ciel et Terre (Bulletin of the Société Belge d'Astronomie) | year=1930 |language=fr | volume=46 | pages=66–69 | bibcode=1930C&T....46...66L}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.evia.gr/en/node/1250 | title=Evia Island | publisher=Evia.gr | work=Chalkis | access-date=29 June 2013}}</ref>