During antiquity, Chalkida was an important town. Its people were Ionian, an ancient Greek race. Chalkida had founded many colonies. Most of them were in south Italy. The Latin alphabet is an evolution of the ancient Chalkidian alphabet. During the Middle Ages Chalkida was an unimportant city. During the Lombardian knights' rule, Chalkida was developed again. Today Chalkida is an industrial town.