Only 12 kilometers away from Potidea, at the Kassandra peninsula, there are the ruins of the ancient city of Olynthos. It was considered the capital of Halkidiki since it was a great economic and military center for the whole region. The city reached its peak during the last decades of the 5th century BC until 348 BC when it was finally destroyed.
Although Herodotus argues that the first citizens of Olynthos were Vopieoi, archaeological excavations showed that the region was inhabited from 3.000 BC. The city played an important role for centuries until it was abandoned in 318 BC when Cassander forced the population to move to his new city Cassandreia.
After many excavations and restoration projects, a large part of the city came to light and most of the findings were secured at the archaeological museum of the site that is open to the public since 1998.