According to mythology, Halkidiki was the place were a huge battle took place, opposing Zeus, helped by the other Olympian Gods, to the Giants, children of Gaea (Mother Earth) and Uranus.
Enceladus, the Giant’s leader, was buried alive in Cassandra; because he sometimes tries to break free from his tomb, he is the source of earthquakes in the whole region.
The prong of Cassandra took its name from Cassandros,
king of Macedonia; Sithonia was called after Sithon, son of the god of the sea, Poseidon and Athos owns its name to the giant Athos, who throw an enormous rock at Zeus but missed him.
Excavations at the Petralona Cave proves that human life existed in Halkidiki around 700.000 years ago.
Established organized societies flourished in the west and central Halkidiki around the 4th century BC, among which the city of Olynthos was the most important one; its oldest inhabitants were the Thracians and the Pelasgoi.
all killed by the Persians.
After the victory of the Greeks in Salamina (in 480 BC), the inhabitants of the two big cities of Olynthos and Potidea revolted against the Persians and drove them out of their cities. After the Persian Wars, the big cities of Halkidiki became members of the Athenian Alliance and participated in the Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BC).
In 348 BC, Halkidiki became part of the Macedonian kingdom, under Philip’s control. With Alexander the Great, the cities of Halkidiki increased in number; among the new cities was the city of Thessaloniki, the city of Cassandria, the city of Uranoupolis and the city of Antigonia, north of today Nea Kallicrateia.
In 168 BC Halkidiki came under Roman domination.
In the 9th century the first monastery was built on the peninsula of Athos.
More followed and in the 11th century, the peninsula was given the name of “Holy Mountain” by a decree of a Byzantine emperor.
In 1430, the Turks took Halkidiki from the Venetians.
The first call for freedom was made in May 1821 at Polygyros, at Karyes and Cassandra.
Some attempts of revolution took place in some parts of Halkidiki but were stopped by the Turks. Many of the inhabitants of Halkidiki joined the forces of Pavlos Melas and other fighters for freedom.