Livadeiá

Livadeia lies at the foot of Mount Helicon in western Boeotia, where the waters of the Herkyna flow through the town. Ancient Lebadeia was famous for the oracle of Trophonius, consulted by visitors who descended into an underground chamber. Pausanias described a sacred grove, temples and statues around the sanctuary. Above the river stands a castle associated with the Catalan rulers who held Livadeia in the fourteenth century. Ottoman rule began in 1458, and privileges granted to the inhabitants encouraged the town's commerce and industry.