Pella
Capital of ancient Macedonia and birthplace of Alexander the Great.
The Story of Pella
Pella replaced Aegae as the Macedonian capital under King Archelaus around 400 BCE, who transformed it into a centre of Greek culture by inviting Euripides, Zeuxis, and other luminaries to his court. Euripides wrote and premiered The Bacchae at Pella. Alexander the Great was born here in 356 BCE and educated by Aristotle in its environs. The city's famous pebble mosaics, depicting scenes from mythology, are among the finest surviving examples of Greek floor art.
Symbols
Explore Further
Sicyon
🏛 placeGeography
An ancient city near Corinth claiming to be one of the oldest in Greece and site of Prometheus's sacrifice trick
Orchomenus
🏛 placecity, Boeotia
An ancient Boeotian city that was one of the wealthiest in Bronze Age Greece, rivalling Thebes and associated with the Minyans.
Corinth
🏛 placeCity of Sisyphus and Medea
Corinth was a wealthy trading city on the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese, associated with Sisyphus, Medea, Bellerophon, and Pegasus.
Athens
🏛 placeCity of Athena, cradle of democracy
Athens was the city sacred to Athena, birthplace of democracy, philosophy, drama, and Western civilisation — named after the goddess who won the city in a contest with Poseidon.
Argos
🏛 placecity-state, Peloponnese
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and a major power in the Peloponnese, closely associated with the goddess Hera.
Ephesus
🏛 placeArtemis, commerce
Great Ionian city and site of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Libya
🏛 placeGeography
The ancient Greek name for the entire continent of Africa, personified as a daughter of Epaphus and Memphis
Arges
🏛 placegeography
The Argolid plain dominated by the city of Argos, one of the oldest and most mythologically saturated regions of Greece.
Thespiae
🏛 placeSacred geography
A Boeotian city near Mount Helicon famous for its cult of Eros and the sanctuary of the Muses
Chalcis
🏛 placeGeography
A major city on the island of Euboea renowned for its metalworking and its role in Greek colonisation
Crisa
🏛 placegeography
A Phocian city below Delphi, sometimes confused with Cirrha, associated with Apollo's arrival in central Greece.
Thebes
🏛 placeCity of Cadmus and Oedipus
Thebes was the great city of Boeotia, founded by Cadmus who sowed dragon teeth, and the setting for the tragedies of Oedipus, Antigone, and the Seven Against Thebes.