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History & Culture : Archaeological Places, sightseeing
OLINTHOS
Olinthos was for a century, the most important town of Halkidiki.
Its foundation is lost in the mythical years. Some archaeological
findings show that in the townÉ's position used to be a significant
prehistoric settlement, which was the town of the classical years.
According to the mythology Olynthos was the son of Strymonas, King
of Thrace and he was killed in a lion hunting. After his death his
brother Vraggas build Olynthos in his honor. According to another
story Olynthos was the son of Hercules. There are some records for
the town which date at the 7th century b.c., when the Vottis conquered
it.
In 480 b.c. the Persian General Artavazos conquered Olynthos and
destroyed the town almost completely. The habitants he arrested
were then slaughtered in the swamps, which are located between Olynthos
and Potidaia.
 After its ruin he gave the town to Halkidis and thus Olynthos became
a Halkidian town. After the Persian wars Olynthos became a member
of the Athenian Alley. In 440 b.c. he defected form the Athenians
and at Perdikas call many coastal towns became neighboring to Olynthos.
Thus, Olynthos was so reinforced, according to the historic Xenofon,
that could keep a military force of 20,000 men.
The foundation of the Common of the Halkidis, that is the political
union of 32 towns of Halkidiki under the aegis of Olynthos, it
contributed to the further development of the town. During the
kingdom of Amyntas B (393-369 b.c.) the dominance of the town
expanded to a part of Macedonia, in which Pellas was also included.
In 379 b.c. the town was taken by the Lacedaeomonians and broke
their Common but very soon Olynthos was set free, reestablished
the Common and became so powerful that all the great powers of
Greece aimed at its alliance. Philipos of Macedonia in order to
detach Olynthos from the influence of the Athenians gave away
the fertile land of Anthemounda (current Galatista) and for its
sake took over Potidaia. The habitants of Olynthos understood
that his behavior was not unselfish so in 352 b.c. broke up the
alliance with the Macedonians.
 Because
the habitants of Olynthos refused to surrender his brother Arridaios,
who took refugee to their town, Philippos set out his army against
the towns of Halkidis. It is said that the result of this crusade
was the disaster of 32 towns of the Common. Later on he fought
Olynthos, which was desperately asking for help from the Athenians.
The famous Athenian speaker and politician Dimosthenis announced
the Olynthians speeches inviting his town to send help to Olynthos.
But when the main Athenian power began, Olynthos took a fall into
Philippos hands by betrayal (348 b.c.). The towns fortune had
been predetermined by the times of its siege, when Philippos answered
to the Olynthian representatives who visited him in order to make
peace that either them should be living any more in Olynthos or
he in Macedonia. So, after its loot it was completed destroyed.
The habitants who were captured were then sold as slaves. Among
them were Philippos brothers, Arridaios and Menelaos, who were
transferred to Pella and then were killed.
Olynthos wasnt rebuilt after 348 b.c. Most of the habitants
of Olynthos who managed to survive, established by Kassandros
in Kassandria in 315 b.c. Kassandros was then accused by his political
rivals of rebuilding the enemy of Macedonians, Olynthos from which
many personalities came from. Indicative we refer to Kallisthenis,
nephew of Aristotle and classmate of Alexander the Great, the
historians Strattis and Efippos, who attended the expedition of
Alexander, the Great.
Ancient Olynthos, as weve already said, is located at the heights,
east of the village. This area is enclosed and the entrance is
located at the Southwest base of the heights, where the guardhouse
is located. You can go by car till the entrance as there is a
motorway. Within the archeological site you can only walk. The
towns position was identified by the last century. The habitants
of the region named it Tower (name which is known and used until
today by the local people), because of a Byzantine tower, which
secured the metohi of Kastamonitos Monastery of Mount Athos. Only
the foundation of the tower is found today at the south part of
the town. During the years 1928, 1931, 1934 and 1938 many excavations
took place by an American archeological delegation under the supervision
of Professor David M. Robinson. The conclusions of the excavations
have been published in twelve big books, which represent to the
archeologists a basic work for the study of the ancient Greek
art.
However, one of the most important offers of Robinson is the thorough
description he gave us regarding the town planning of a town of
the classical era. As weve already mentioned before, Olynthos
was ruined in 480 b.c. by the Persians. Around 440 b.c. thousands
of new habitants were added to the existing ones, who all came
from the coastal towns of Halkidiki.
Having in mind all of these historic data and furthermore the
excavating data, we can conclude to the following: the archaic
town, which was the continuity of the prehistoric, was located
in the south hill, where the roads followed the inclination of
the ground and crossed with others. In this part of the town we
cannot say anything about a regular town planning. The north hill
seems to have been the area of the new mass inhabitancy of the
Halkidis. Its evaluation was led by a complete rational thought.
An area of about 600x350m was divided into parallel and upright
roads.
Seven parallel avenues, with direction from the North to the South,
from 5 7 meters width, cross with right roads of 5m width. The
blocks, which are formed, are 35,40m and 86,34m by side, that
is 120x300 feet (1:2,5). To the south boundary of the new settlement
some the avenues have a direction towards the southeast, indicative
route of the communication route between Olynthos and Mykivernas,
which after 421 b.c. became the harbor of Olynthos.
The preciseness of the town planning of Olynthos help us understand
how the Hippodameios town-planning system was applied. Every block
usually included ten residences, which had an inside court and
except for the necessary rooms, auxiliary rooms with running water
and a drainage system.
The impression the town gives is less interest than that of the
bigger modern cities: the houses are humble, there arent any
communal areas and everything is modest, apart for some villas,
which are located at the outskirts of the town. The town was built
with mud-brick walls, on which the first houses nearly touched
it. The towns market is situated in a space with a stoa, which
was located at the point where the old settlement meets the new
one.
The finds of the excavations are kept in the museums of Thessaloniki
and Polygiros.
Text: Ioakim Ath. Papaggelos
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