1. Location

The area of Schimatari is situated in eastern Boeotia. It contains the settlements of Schimatari, Plaka Dilesi at the shores of the southern Euboean Gulf, and Oinoe (or Oenoe). It is home to one of the largest industrial zones in Greece, containing many important plants, while its piny shores are popular tourist destinations.

2. The area in Antiquity

In Antiquity the area was controlled by the nearby city of Tanagra. The most important settlements were Delium, the harbour of Tanagra in the site now occupied by Dilesi, and Oinoe, whose name alludes to viniculture and the popularity of the cult of Dionysus in the area.

Delion developed around the sanctuary of Apollo Delios. According to a myth, the founders originated from Delos, the cradle of the god’s cult, an island with which Delium maintained close ties. Herodotus recounts that the Persians, after their defeat at Marathon, dedicated at Delos an adorational statue of Apollo they had looted from Delium. The relocation of the statue to Delium in 470 BC was perhaps connected with the construction of a Classical temple in honour of the god over an earlier structure.

The sanctuary of Apollo Delios was situated on the beach of Dilesi. A large Hellenistic stoa that is thought to have marked the north side of the sanctuary has come to light there. Part of the stoa’s foundation is now covered by the sea, whose level on the coasts of the Euboean Gulf has risen by 1.5 meters since the Classical period.

Notwithstanding its sacredness, Delium was captured by the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War (424 BC) in the context of military operations to overthrow the oligarchic regimes of Boeotia and thus curtail Spartan influence. The campaign was a failure, however, and the Athenians returned home. Boeotians under Pagondas attacked the Athenian army close to Delium and destroyed it. Pagondas’ tactics contributed to the victory of the Thebans: he had arrayed his troops in two wings of unequal depth, a tactic seen as a precursor to the ‘aslant phalanx’ of Epaminondas and used the renowned Boeotian cavalry to flank the Athenian infantry. Among the Athenians who fought at Delium were Socrates and Alcibiades. According to Plutarch, the philosopher was saved by Alcibiades, who on horseback protected Socrates as he retreated on foot. The Boeotians used part of the spoils to establish the ‘Festival of Delium’ (there is also an inscriptional testimony for a competitive event) in honour of Apollo Delios.

Delium provided refuge for a short time to the inhabitants of Andros after the island was sacked in 199 BC by Attalus I of Pergamon and the Romans, who had joined forces with him in order to expel Macedonian garrisons from the Aegean. The people of Andros returned to their homes following Attalus’ invitation. Delium was also the city were a treaty between the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Archelaus, general of Mithridates VI of Pontus, was signed after the victory of the Romans at the Battle of Orchomenus (85 BC).

3. Middle Ages

In the Byzantine period the entire region slipped into obscurity. It has been argued that its proximity to the seashore rendered it vulnerable to Arab pirate raids. The existence of two 12th churches suggests a relative recovery. These are the churches of Ayia Paraskevi and Ayios Ioannis at the Schimatari cemetery. Ayios Ioannis was decorated with murals, some of which survive today. Part of the mural decoration has been removed and is now on display at the Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum.

In the Late Middle Ages, Albanian-speaking populations moved into the area, mainly after invitation by the lords of Boeotia who were seeking to repopulate it and revitalize its economy. The Arvanites, as the migrants came to be called, left their indelible mark on the demographics of the area. Schimatari was among the settlements they moved in.

4. Ottoman Period to the 19th century

In 1403 the Ottoman overlords of the Duchy of Athens and Thebes, ceded to the Venetians a strip of land five miles long on the coasts of Central Greece opposite the island of Euboea, which was under Venetian rule. The raids of Ottoman semi-autonomous warlords occasionally created tensions with the Venetians, forcing them to relocate the inhabitants of that strip to Euboea. The terms of this agreement were probably forgotten after the death of Antonio Acciaioli in 1435 and certainly by 1460, when Boeotia was annexed to the Ottoman Empire. All of eastern Boeotia became part of the kaza of Thebes.

In 1833, following the creation of the modern Greek State, the area of Schimatari was subsumed to the Municipality of Tanagra. Less than forty years later, Dilesi became known all over the world because of a tragic incident. In the spring of 1870, a group of European notables (nobility and diplomats) were abducted by brigands while returning from a visit to Marathon; the abductors demanded a ransom and amnesty for their crimes. Having released the women who slowed them down, they headed for Oropus while they were engaged in negotiations with the Greek government and the embassy of Great Britain. When the negotiations failed, the brigands executed four of their captives near Dilesi. A fight ensued with the police forces that were shadowing them and many brigands were killed, but most of them managed to escape. The ‘Slaughter of Dilesi’ roused international public outcry against Greece, and Greek politicians were accused of being in connivance with the bands of brigands. The government resigned and Greece was forced to pay hefty reparations to the families of the victims.

The cemeteries of ancient Tanagra were looted in the 1870s, when the Tanagras, Hellenistic ceramic figurines depicting young women in various graceful and elegant poses, became prized acquisitions for European collectors. By 1873 the Athenian Archaeological Society had begun organizing excavations to counter the spate of looting and rescue unrevealed antiquities through methodical removal of archaeological material. These finds were housed at the Archaeological Museum of Schimatari, constructed in 1890. They span a period from the Mycenaean to the Roman era and include material unearthed at necropolises and the acropolis of Tanagra (sculptures, sepulchral stelae, sepulchral monuments), as well as finds discovered in recent excavations (pottery, figurines); outstanding among these are the finds from Mycenaean chamber tombs, especially two larnakes bearing pictorial decoration. We should also mention an inscription commemorating the men of Tanagra killed at the Battle of Delium, and the Tanagra figurines discovered after the period of looting. The Hellenistic pottery on display at the Museum of Schimatari confirms the view that an important and long-lasting pottery workshop operated in the area.

5. Modern era

In recent years Schimatari became the most important settlement in the area and its population was growing at a fast pace until the interwar years. After the decline experienced because of the German Occupation of Greece in WWII, the Greek Civil War and the wave of immigration, the industrialization of the region led to an incredible 400% increase of the population after 1971. This demographic boom also affected Plaka Dilesi which became a popular tourist resort.

The area of Schimatari enjoys good railway connections and motorways on the N-S axis. By the early 20th century the Oenoe station (previously called Schimatari station) marks the place of the railway junction to Chalcis. The station’s stone building is a characteristic example of provincial railway station architecture in Greece. The Schimatari toll gate (opened in 1962) on the Athens-Lamia motorway also underlines the nodal importance of the area for land connections.