Orchomenos

 

Orchomenos

In Homer Orchomenos is known as one of the richest Mycenaean kingdoms located on Lake Kopaïs, which was drained and used for agriculture. After the Mycenaean period, Orchomenos fell  into severe decay.  According to mythological tradition, Heracles would have plugged the drainage holes that turned Lake Kopais into a low-lying, fertile plain. Thus deprived of its rich hinterland, Orchomenos could not cope with the with Thebes  (its riavl) and lost all meaning

 

 

The most important remnant of the ancient town is the theater (photos on the right and bottom right), next to the walls of the acropolis, but the most interesting thing is the treasure house of Minyas, described by Pausanias, the mythical king, who ruled over the Minyers in Orchomenos. The treasure house is in reality a Myken royal tomb that is still standing partly and is important because of the decoration of bronze rosettes that were found during the excavation, but mainly because of the side room with a decoration of spiral motifs carved in the ceiling (Photos below). The “Tomb of Hesiodos” described by Pausanias is really a Hellenistic tomb.

Orchomenos is also known for its small church that dates from 874 and originally was the monastery church of the monastery of the Koimesis tis Theotokou (the sleep of the Mother of God). The church is mainly constructed from pillar drums of the ancient temple of the Graces mentioned by Pausanias and fragments of the theater just behind it. It is built in the Bulgarian-Byzantine tradition and is a unique examplar in Greece (comparable to the Bulgarian church in Ohrid) of a cross-church with a dome