With the arrival of the Boeotians, Orchomenos gradually declined but later became an important city of the Boeotian League. During the Corinthian War, it sided with Sparta and hosted a Spartan garrison. In 375 BC, the Thebans under Pelopidas seized the city, and shortly afterward defeated the Spartans at the Battle of Tegyra, just outside Orchomenos. Although Epaminondas opposed its destruction, the Thebans ultimately razed Orchomenos in 364 BC while he was away.
The city was rebuilt by the Phocians during the Third Sacred War, only to be destroyed again by the Thebans in 353 BC. After his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip II of Macedon rebuilt Orchomenos, strengthening its fortress, which survives today, and briefly making it the seat of the Boeotian League. The city declined after the devastations of the Roman general Sulla in 86 BC.
When Pausanias visited in the 2nd century AD, Orchomenos still retained important sanctuaries and monuments. The city was especially famous for the worship of the Charites (Graces), in whose honor festivals known as the Charitesia were held.
Modern Orchomenos was formed in the 1960s through the unification of the neighboring villages Petromagoula and Skripou. As the population grew, the settlements merged into a single town, while their names were preserved as districts of today’s Orchomenos.
Combining myth, Mycenaean engineering, classical history, and modern life, Orchomenos is a key cultural destination in the heart of Boeotia.
