Amarynthos, Evia: A Temple Lost for a Century Was Found Two Kilometres From This Beach

Greece | Amarynthos | Eretria, Central Evia

I knew almost nothing about Amarynthos before researching it, and the thing I keep coming back to is that a major ancient sanctuary sat undiscovered two kilometres from this beach until 2017 — not because nobody was looking, but because everybody was looking in the wrong place for more than a hundred years. Ancient sources, particularly the geographer Strabo, gave a distance from Eretria that turned out to be wrong, and archaeologists trusted that distance for over a century, digging fruitlessly in the wrong spot. A Swiss epigrapher named Denis Knoepfler proposed in 1989 that everyone should be looking near Paleoekklisies Hill instead, considerably further from Eretria than Strabo’s figure suggested. He was right, and it took until 2017 for a Swiss-Greek excavation team to actually prove it, cutting through gallery walls to reveal the core of the Sanctuary of Artemis Amarysia.

What they found underneath several modern houses at the base of the hill turned out to be substantial: two successive temples, the first built around 650 BC and destroyed by fire late in the 6th century, replaced shortly after by a larger one around 500 BC. Excavations completed in 2023 revealed the earlier temple measured exactly 100 ancient Greek feet — about 34 metres — a deliberate, “perfect” measurement found at other sanctuaries of the same era, and unusually apsidal in shape, with a curved end rare for temples of that period. Sealed roof tiles stamped with the word “Artemidos” confirmed beyond doubt what the building had been. Linear B tablets recovered from the Mycenaean palace at Thebes, in neighbouring Boeotia, reference a place matching Amarynthos by name — meaning this exact location has carried the same name and the same religious significance for roughly 3,000 years, a continuity that’s genuinely rare even by Greek standards.

Every spring, according to Strabo, the people of Eretria processed twelve kilometres from their city to this sanctuary for the festival of Artemisia — 3,000 armed soldiers, 600 cavalry, 60 war chariots, followed by dancers and musicians, a major civic and religious event drawing visitors from across Euboea and beyond. Archaeologists estimate only a quarter to a third of the site has been excavated so far. There’s almost certainly more underneath that ground than anyone has yet found.

Getting There: 30 Kilometres South of Chalkida, via Eretria

I’d follow the coastal road south from Chalkida toward Eretria and on to Amarynthos, the drive taking around thirty-five to forty minutes with the Euboean Gulf visible for much of the route. Free parking lines the waterfront and sits in designated lots near the small port, and I wouldn’t expect much trouble finding a space outside the very height of August.

The KTEL bus departs Chalkida’s central station roughly hourly, the journey taking about forty-five minutes and dropping passengers right at Amarynthos’s main square. From Athens, the drive runs seventy-five to ninety minutes, crossing into Evia via the high bridge at Chalkida, or alternatively by ferry from Oropos to Eretria for a slower, more traditional approach to the island.

The Beach: Sand and Small Pebbles, a Gentle Slope, a Eucalyptus Promenade

The shore mixes fine sand with small, smooth pebbles, sloping gently enough into the water that families with young children should find it comfortable rather than demanding. The bay sits shielded by Evia’s central mountains, keeping the water notably calm even when wind disturbs other parts of the island, and the colour shifts between turquoise and a deeper emerald depending on the light.

A paved promenade lined with eucalyptus trees runs along the back of the beach, genuinely pleasant for an evening walk as the village lights begin reflecting on calm water after sunset. Organised sections offer sunbeds and umbrellas from the beach bars working this stretch, and seafood tavernas line the sand closely enough that eating with your feet nearly in the water is a real, not exaggerated, possibility. The town centre sits close enough that pharmacies, supermarkets, and an ATM are all a five-minute walk away, useful for anyone staying the day without much planning ahead.

Amarynthos, south of Chalkida on Evia’s central coast, sits two kilometres from the Sanctuary of Artemis Amarysia, lost to archaeology for over a century and found only in 2017 after a Swiss epigrapher’s 1989 hunch finally proved correct. The site holds two successive temples spanning the 7th to 5th centuries BC, and evidence connects the location to a continuous 3,000-year history of worship under the same name. The beach itself is sand and small pebble, gently sloping, sheltered and calm, lined with a eucalyptus promenade and seafood tavernas close enough to the water to eat with your feet nearly in it. Thirty kilometres from Chalkida via Eretria, seventy-five to ninety minutes from Athens.

Drive the coastal road from Chalkida through Eretria. Make time for the short trip to the sanctuary site if ancient history interests you at all. Walk the eucalyptus promenade at sunset and watch the village lights come on across calm water.