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Orchomenus (Boeotia)

Orchomenos
Ορχομενός
The Theatre
The Theatre
Orchomenos is located in Greece
Orchomenos
Orchomenos
Coordinates: 38°29′N 22°59′E / 38.483°N 22.983°E / 38.483; 22.983Coordinates: 38°29′N 22°59′E / 38.483°N 22.983°E / 38.483; 22.983
Country Greece
Administrative region Central Greece
Regional unit Boeotia
Area
 • Municipality 415.9 km2 (160.6 sq mi)
 • Municipal unit 230.098 km2 (88.841 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Municipality 11,621
 • Municipality density 28/km2 (72/sq mi)
 • Municipal unit 8,869
 • Municipal unit density 39/km2 (100/sq mi)
Community
 • Population 5,238 (2011)
 • Area (km2) 43.431
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)

Orchomenus (Ancient Greek: Ὀρχομενός Orchomenos), the setting for many early Greek myths, is best known as a rich archaeological site in Boeotia, Greece, that was inhabited from the Neolithic through the Hellenistic periods. Orchomenus is also referenced as the "Minyean Orchomenus" in order to distinguish the city from the "Arcadian Orchomenus".

According to the founding myth of Orchomenos, its royal dynasty had been established by the Minyans, who had followed their eponymous leader Minyas from coastal Thessaly to settle the site. In the Bronze Age, during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries, Orchomenos became a rich and important centre of civilisation in Mycenaean Greece and a rival to Thebes. The palace with its frescoed walls and the great tholos tomb show the power of Orchomenos in Mycenaean times. A massive hydraulic undertaking drained the marshes of Lake Copaïs making it a rich agricultural area. Like many sites around the Aegean, Orchomenos was burned and its palace destroyed in ca. 1200 BC.

Orchomenos is mentioned among the Achaean cities sending ships to engage in the Trojan War in Homer's "Catalogue of Ships" in the Iliad: together with Aspledon, they contributed thirty ships and their complement of men.


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