Arcadian Orchomenos
| Ὀρχομενός | |
 Shown within Greece
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| Alternate name | Orchomenos |
|---|---|
| Location | Orchomenos, Peloponnese, Greece |
| Region | Arcadia |
| Coordinates | 37°43′29″N 22°18′55″E / 37.72472°N 22.31528°ECoordinates: 37°43′29″N 22°18′55″E / 37.72472°N 22.31528°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| Site notes | |
| Management | 39th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities |
| Public access | Yes |
| Website | Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism |
Orchomenus or Orchomenos (Greek: Ὀρχομενός) was an ancient city of Arcadia, Greece, called by Thucydides (v. 61) the Arcadian Orchomenus (Ὀρχομενός ὁ Ἀρκαδικός), to distinguish it from the Boeotian town.
Orchomenos was a prehistoric settlement and became one of the powerful cities in West Arcadia along with Tegea and Mantineia. The heyday of the city was between 7th-6th century BC and it became a rich city which minted its own currency.
Its ruins are near the modern village of Orchomenos (before 1963: Καλπάκι - Kalpaki).
Orchomenos was initially established at the foot of the acropolis on a plain surrounded on every side by mountains. Later the settlement was built on the mountain where the most important monuments of the city have been found. The modern village of Orchomenos stands on the site of lower Orchomenus.
This plain was bounded on the south by a low range of hills, called Anchisia, which separated it from the territory of Mantineia: on the north by a lofty chain, called Oligyrtus, through which lie the passes into the territories of Pheneus and Stymphalus, and on the east and west by two parallel chains running from north to south.
The plain is divided into two by hills projecting from the eastern and western ranges, and which approach so close as to allow space for only a narrow ravine between them. Upon the summit of the western hill stood the acropolis of Orchomenus, nearly 900 m (3,000 ft) high, resembling the strong fortress of Messenian Ithome and, like the latter, commanding two plains. The waters of the southern part of the plain run through the ravine into the northern plain where, as there is no outlet for the waters, they formed a large lake.
Orchomenus is mentioned by Homer, who gives it the epithet ofPolimilon which meant abundant in sheep πολύμηλος, and it is also called "ferax" by Ovid, and ἀφνεός by Apollonius Rhodius
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Wikipedia