Archaeological Site of Plataea

Ancient Boeotian city on a ledge 300 m above sea level on the north slope of Mount Cithaeron. Allied with Athens from c. 519 BC, Plataea sent 1,000 soldiers to the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. In 479 BC, Greek forces under Pausanias defeated the Persian army of Mardonius on its slopes, decisively ending Persian expansion into mainland Greece. The city was repeatedly destroyed by Thebes and Sparta before Philip II and Alexander rebuilt it after 338 BC.