Olynthos

The film takes us on a tour of Olynthos, the most powerful and important city of the Chalkidike. At the time of its ascendancy it numbers 30.000 inhabitants. Olynthos becomes the seat of the political union of 32 cities of the Chalkidike, the “alliance of the Chalkideans”. Its coins circulate throughout the greek world. Its exceptional economic and cultural growth turns into a cause of its destruction. In 348 BC, Philip of Macedon lays siege to the city and conquers it, saying that “either the Olynthians should not inhabit Olynthos or he should not inhabit Macedonia”. The city was raised to the ground and never inhabited again after 348BC. The wealth of the powerful city is revealed by the excavations. It was the first european city to be designed on the basis of the “Hippodameian system”. The excavations have enriched our knowledge of domestic architecture in antiquity. At Olynthos we find the most exquisite examples of the early mosaic technique that have been found in Greece.