Thebes is a city in Greece associated with the name of Oedipus, the unfortunate son of the king, who declared himself after the decisive military victory over Sparta. However, the Theban hegemony did not last long: after two generations, Thebes was destroyed by the troops of Alexander the Great, who did not spare even the house of the poet Pindar.
Now almost nothing reminds me of the existence of a great city-state. To get a glimpse of Thebes' grand past, you need to head to the local Archaeological Museum. It presents a collection of numerous artefacts dating back to the Mycenaean era.
Thebes experienced an economic boom due to its agriculture, cattle breeding, especially horse breeding. Thebes was the first Greek city to have a strategic cavalry. Pindar, the greatest lyric poet of Greece, gave a school of philosophy and was the centre of an important school of painting. In Byzantine times, the city was famous for its silks.
The modern Thebes includes an Archaeological Museum, the ruins of Cadmea (a Bronze Age fortress) and some scattered ancient remains. Archaeological excavations around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and inscribed ceramic tablets indicating the importance of the place in the Bronze Age. @via Thebes, Modern Greek.
It's not as glamourous as Spain but I will still visit.
