DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4099#0464
426 RUINS OF ORCHOMENOS.
early times seem to have consisted in pastures and flocks.' Its
military force could not have been considerable at the time of the
Persian invasion, as it sent only 120 men to Thermopylae,2 and 600
to Plataea.3
The most ancient town, which was afterwards the acropolis, was
situated on a high, steep, and insulated hill; for which reason it is
denominated an island by Dionysios of Halicarnassos:+ indeed it
is sometimes almost surrounded with water in the winter, when the
snow melts and the lake overflows. Pausanias says, that in his time
the walls of the old town of Orchomenos, and the agora, were seen
upon the hill, but that the town itself was lower down.
The acropolis on which the original town was situated is steep on
all sides, and flat at the summit, resembling Mount Ithome in form,
but far inferior in height. The walls were fortified with square towers,
and may be traced nearly round the whole of the extreme edge: in
some places they are well preserved, and the most ancient parts are
in the rough Tirynthian style.
I made a panoramic view from the acropolis, which gives a com-
prehensive idea of the Orchomenian plain, with its lake, and its
grand encircling rampart of mountains. These are of a bold and
towering character, and are seen receding beyond each other to the
extremity of the horizon.
The village of Kalpaki is situated upon the ruins of the lower
town, and the cottage which we occupied stood upon the remains of a
Doric temple of white marble, some large masses of which are scat-
tered about in the vicinity. I employed the countrymen to exca-
vate, and they dug out some Doric capitals in perfect preservation,
and of an elegant form. The columns had only eighteen flutings. I
earnestly recommend it to future travellers to persevere in an exca-
vation, by which their toil will probably be amply recompensed.
I had not sufficient time for such an undertaking.
1 Pausan. loc. cit.; he cites Homer, Iliad, 2. v. 605.
1 Herodot. b. 1. c. 202. ' Id. b. 9. c. 28. * Antiq. Rom. b. 1. c. 30.
early times seem to have consisted in pastures and flocks.' Its
military force could not have been considerable at the time of the
Persian invasion, as it sent only 120 men to Thermopylae,2 and 600
to Plataea.3
The most ancient town, which was afterwards the acropolis, was
situated on a high, steep, and insulated hill; for which reason it is
denominated an island by Dionysios of Halicarnassos:+ indeed it
is sometimes almost surrounded with water in the winter, when the
snow melts and the lake overflows. Pausanias says, that in his time
the walls of the old town of Orchomenos, and the agora, were seen
upon the hill, but that the town itself was lower down.
The acropolis on which the original town was situated is steep on
all sides, and flat at the summit, resembling Mount Ithome in form,
but far inferior in height. The walls were fortified with square towers,
and may be traced nearly round the whole of the extreme edge: in
some places they are well preserved, and the most ancient parts are
in the rough Tirynthian style.
I made a panoramic view from the acropolis, which gives a com-
prehensive idea of the Orchomenian plain, with its lake, and its
grand encircling rampart of mountains. These are of a bold and
towering character, and are seen receding beyond each other to the
extremity of the horizon.
The village of Kalpaki is situated upon the ruins of the lower
town, and the cottage which we occupied stood upon the remains of a
Doric temple of white marble, some large masses of which are scat-
tered about in the vicinity. I employed the countrymen to exca-
vate, and they dug out some Doric capitals in perfect preservation,
and of an elegant form. The columns had only eighteen flutings. I
earnestly recommend it to future travellers to persevere in an exca-
vation, by which their toil will probably be amply recompensed.
I had not sufficient time for such an undertaking.
1 Pausan. loc. cit.; he cites Homer, Iliad, 2. v. 605.
1 Herodot. b. 1. c. 202. ' Id. b. 9. c. 28. * Antiq. Rom. b. 1. c. 30.