About the Experience
About the Tour
There are no other tours of Chalkida except the ones I have been doing during the last few years. I have a Ph.D. in ancient history and archaeology with over 40 years of experience in leading educational tours in various Mediterranean and Middle East countries. I come from an old Chalkida family and live in our medieval house. Therefore I have a particularly good insight into the ancient and modern town. We begin the tour with a brief background into the modern history of Chalkida which mirrors all of Greece. Although much has been demolished, architecture serves as the best indicator of its recent past. I explain the origins and significance of Neoclassical architecture but do not neglect vernacular buildings as well as remnants of medieval ones. Most important of which are the Gothic church (with its unique intact roof timbers), a 17th-century mosque (now exhibiting old engravings and maps of the city) and a synagogue (serving one of the oldest surviving Jewish communities). The
About the Guide
Dr Konstantinos D. Politis is an archaeologist and historian educated in Greece, the United States, Belgium and Britain. He specialises in the Late Antique and Medieval periods. He is chairperson of the Hellenic Society for Near Eastern Studies. Dr Politis has published seven books, numerous scholarly articles and has presented many lectures in Europe, the Near East, Australia and North America. He has also led many academic tour groups to Greece, Jordan, Turkey, Oman, Egypt and Syria. From 1988 until 2011 Dr Politis was based at the British Museum which was the principal sponsor of his excavations. He instigated the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth in Safi (Jordan) and organised various exhibitions from Hellenism in the Near East to industrial history in modern Greece. He has also worked for the Greek Culture Ministry, Ministry of Tourism of Jordan, National Geographic Society, Athens University, UNESCO and USAID.
How to Find Guide
on the south bank of the Evripus Strait, near the old bridge and the taxi rank. I am a middle-aged bald man wearing a polo shirt.
Meeting point to start a Tour
Aggeli Goviou 2 Chalkida 341 00 Greece