Olynthus

Olynthus is an ancient city in present-day Chalcidice, Greece. It was built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the head of the Gulf of Torone, near the neck of the peninsula of Pallene.

Olynthus served as head of the Chalcidian League from its inception just before the Peloponnesian War to the time the city was destroyed in the Social War. The city flourished between 432 BCE and its destruction by Philip II of Macedon in 348 BCE. It was finally abandoned in 316 BCE. Excavations were conducted across four seasons, spanning from 1928 to 1938. Artefacts found during the excavations of the site are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Olynthos. In the modern day the city is famous for its well preserved household and urban architecture.

The city was named for Olynthus, the son of Heracles or of Strymon, the mythological founder of the town.

Address
Chalcidice, Greece

Established
5th century BCE