Orchomenos

Orchomenos was one of the richest Mycenaean centres, wealthy from draining Lake Kopais to farm the plain, and Homer ranked it with Egyptian Thebes for treasure. Its great monument is the tholos tomb known as the Treasury of Minyas, a beehive chamber comparable in scale to the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, with a side chamber whose ceiling is carved from green schist slabs into rosettes and spirals, the only decorated tholos ceiling known. Beside it stands the monastery church of the Dormition, built in 874 largely from ancient blocks, with inscriptions and column drums visible in its walls and Byzantine paintings inside. Behind them rise the remains of the ancient theatre and the acropolis walls on the hill, and the drained Kopais basin spreads flat to the horizon.

What's there

• The Treasury of Minyas - a great Mycenaean beehive tomb.
• The carved ceiling - schist slabs cut with rosettes in the side chamber.
• The church of the Dormition - a ninth-century building of reused ancient stone.
• The theatre and acropolis - Hellenistic remains on the hill above.

When to go

Spring and autumn; the site is small and open, and summer midday is hot. It combines naturally with Thebes or Livadeia in one day.

Good to know

The site is compact and quiet, visited in an hour, with modest signage. The tomb interior is dim, and the church may be locked outside service times. Modern Orchomenos around it is an unremarkable farming town.

Nearby

Livadeia and its springs lie southwest; Thebes is half an hour southeast.